Venus The planet Venus named after the goddess of love and beauty is the brightest star in the sky. Because of this it is sometimes referred to as the "morning star" or the "evening star" and has even been called “the jewel of the sky”. Known as the sister planet to Earth because of certain similarities, for example Venus is only slightly smaller than Earth (95% of Earth"s diameter, 80% of Earth"s mass). Their densities and chemical compositions are also similar. A more in depth study however shows that in more important ways Venus is actually very different to the Earth, possibly being the most inhospitable place to live in the solar system! Venus is composed mostly of carbon dioxide and covered in layer upon layer of clouds, kilometres thick and composed of sulphuric acid. Venus rotates from east to west. To an observer on Venus, the Sun would rise in the west and set in the east. Venus has no magnetic field, perhaps because of its slow rotation; the planet also has no satellites, and thereby hangs a tale. Venus is the second closest planet to the sun orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days, despite being nearly twice as far away from the Sun than Mercury, Venus’ surface is actually hotter with a surface temperature of about 482° C (900° F). The first spacecraft to visit Venus was Mariner2 in 1962, and has subsequently been visited by 20 others. Data from Magellan’s imaging radar shows that much of the surface of Venus is covered by lava flows, once covered in water Venus is now quite dry, scientists now believe that the water boiled away and evaporated due to the scorching temperatures of the surface. The oldest terrains on Venus seem to be about 800 million years old, there are several large shield volcanoes and some experts believe some have showed recent activity but only in a few hot spots; for the most part it has been geologically rather quiet for the past few hundred million years. Extensive volcanism at that time wiped out the earlier surface including any large craters from early in Venus" history. It is highly likely the interior of Venus very similar to that of Earth: an iron core about 3000 km in radius, a molten rocky mantle comprising the majority of the planet. Recent results from the Magellan gravity data indicate that Venus" crust is stronger and thicker than had previously been assumed. On June 8 2004, Venus passed directly between the Earth and the Sun, appearing as a large black dot. This event is known as a "transit of Venus" and is very rare: the next one is in 2012 but after than you"ll have to wait until 2117. |
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