The planet Venus is the most similar of our solar system's
planets to earth. It has a similar size and mass and is in
close proximity to earth. While the planets' compositions
may be similar, their atmospheres are nothing alike. While
the majority of earth's surface is covered in water, Venus does
not have any bodies of water. Venus' atmosphere is
dominated by carbon dioxide and thick heavy clouds laden with
sulfuric acid that creates a greenhouse effect that would make
Al Gore cringe. The sulfuric acid comes from volcanoes on
Venus. Venus' clouds are highly reflective making it the
brightest planets in the sky. There is a great deal of
convection in in Venus' atmosphere due to
The surface temperature is balmy at approximately 470ºC
(880ºF). Venus takes approximately
225 earth days to orbit the Sun and rotates once every 248 days
(1 Venus day = 117 earth days). Although Venus has an iron
core, it has no magnetic field because it rotates so slowly.
Due to its It's surface is almost entirely composed of
solidified basaltic lava. There are over 1000 volcanoes
that are more than 20km (12 miles) across! Venus has no
moons.
Many spacecraft have visited Venus, but probes never last more
than a couple of hours due to the extreme heat and pressure.
Some of the spacecraft to fly by Venus were there to study Venus
and others used Venus for a gravity assist on its way to another
planet. Venus was visited by a few Mariner missions,
Galileo, Pioneer Venus, Magellan, Vega 1 and 2, and a few
others. The most recent spacecraft to head to Venus is
Venus Express. It entered Venus' orbit in April 2006 and
its mission is currently extended to May 2009. In 2013,
Venus In-Situ Explorer (VISE) is scheduled to launch and will
place a lander on Venus to collect and analyze rocks.
| Mass (kg)
| 4.87 x 1024
|
| Diameter (km)
| 12104
|
| Mean density (kg/m3)
| 5250
|
| Escape velocity (m/s)
| 10400
|
| Average distance from Sun
| 0.723 AU (108,208,930 km)
|
| Rotation period (length of day in Earth days)
| 243.02 (retrograde)
|
| Revolution period (length of year in Earth days)
| 224.7
|
| Obliquity (tilt of axis degrees)
| 178
|
| Orbit inclination (degrees)
| 3.39
|
| Orbit eccentricity (deviation from circular)
| 0.007
|
| Mean surface temperature (K)
| 726
|
| Visual geometric albedo (reflectivity)
| 0.59
|
| Highest point on surface
| Maxwell Montes
(17 km above mean planetary radius)
|
| Atmospheric components
| 96% carbon dioxide,
3% nitrogen,
0.1% water vapor
|
| Surface materials
| basaltic rock and altered materials
|
|
Radar Image of Venus
Photograph of Venus'
Cloud Patterns
(colorized and filtered)
Picture of
Venus as seen from
Pioneer Venus Spacecraft |
