What do you know about the second planet from the sun? Could studying Venus hold insight into Earth's future?
Seeing Venus
Venus is radiant. Named after the Goddess of Love, Venus shines brighter than any other planet in the sky. Only the sun and moon can shine brighter than Venus. The planet is sometimes referred to as the Evening Star or Morning Star because of its brilliant appearances at dawn and dusk.
The Atmosphere on the Goddess of Love
Venus's thick atmosphere is what makes the planet so bright. The thick cloud cover can be seen well in photos of the planet. The white reflective clouds give Venus a high albedo. Venus is also the closest planet to Earth, which contributes to its brightness factor relative to the other planets. Venus is generally considered a yellow or white planet.
Spacecraft Missions to Venus
The first look below the cloud deck of Venus came from the Russian Venera spacecraft of the early '80s. The longest any of the Venera probes survived on Venus was two hours and 7 minutes, until it was crushed by the vicious surface pressure, which is 92 times stronger than that of Earth's at sea level. The spacecraft Magellan also supplemented our knowledge of Venus's surface. It carried out a four-year radar-mapping mission, providing details of the plains, craters, ridges, and other formations. The most notable surface features on Venus are Ishtar Terra and Aphrodite Terra, highland regions that are the site of extinct volcanic flows.
Venus Compared to Earth
Venus and Earth are close together in space and similar in size, which is the reason Venus is called Earth's sister planet. But there are many things about Venus that make it distinctive. It is a waterless, moonless world. A year on Venus equals 225 Earth days, but a day on Venus equals 243 Earth days. This means that a Venusian day is longer that its year! But not only does Venus spin very slowly, it also spins in the opposite direction from other planets in the solar system. If the clouds weren't so thick, an inhabitant of Venus would be able to see the sun rise in the west and set in the east.
But the biggest difference currently in existence between Venus and Earth is their temperatures. Venus's atmosphere is a cauldron of greenhouse gases. Ninety-seven percent of the atmosphere is carbon dioxide, with sulfuric acid droplets in the clouds. The heat that radiates from the planet's surface is trapped in its atmosphere, making it the hottest of all the planets at 900 degrees Fahrenheit. But for how long will this major difference between Earth and Venus remain? Every day humans are pumping more and more carbon dioxide into Earth's atmosphere, causing global warming and creating a stronger greenhouse effect. Venus may simply be a glimpse into Earth's dismal future.
For more on the solar system, follow the links below.
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