Venus is the second planet in distance from The Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days.
Though Venus is an elusive planet - by turns it is the morning and the evening star - its path was calculated by the Mayas thousands of years ago with an error of only fourteen seconds a year.
The ancient Romans named it after their goddess Venus. Venus is the only planet in our Solar System named after a woman.
On July 8, 1941 the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney along with the rest of her squadron attempted to shoot down the planet Venus thinking it was a high altitude bomber. Venus managed to survive the engagement.
Venus was the first planet beyond Earth visited by a spacecraft when NASA's Mariner 2 flew past in 1962.
The Venera series of space probes were developed by the Soviet Union between 1961 and 1984 to gather data from Venus. When Venera 3 crashed on Venus in 1966, it became the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface.
The following year Venera 4 performed in-place analysis of the environment of Venus and became the first spacecraft to land (rather than crash land) on another planet, although it stopped working before that.
On December 15, 1970 Venera 7 successfully landed on Venus becoming the first successful soft landing on another planet and send information back to earth. The probe transmitted information back home for 53 minutes, which included 23 minutes from the surface before succumbing to heat and pressure.
The first detailed maps of Venus did not emerge until the arrival of the Magellan orbiter in 1991.
A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet passes directly between the Sun and Earth. It is one of the rarest predictable astronomical phenomena and happens in pairs eight years apart that are separated from each other by 105 or 121 years. The last transit before 2012 was in 2004, and the next pair of transits will occur in 2117 and 2125.
Venus is the brightest thing in the night sky except for the Moon. The second brightest object on the image below is Jupiter.
Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.
It takes 243 Earth-days for Venus to rotate about its axis, yet it takes 225 Earth-days for Venus to orbit the sun. That means that, on Venus, a day takes longer than a year.
Venus rotates so slowly, you could watch the sunset forever just by walking.
Much of the Venusian surface appears to have been shaped by volcanic activity. The planet has several times as many volcanoes as Earth, and it has 167 large volcanoes that are over 100 kilometers (62 mi) across.
Venus has 'snow-capped' mountains but it has been found the 'snow' is actually metal. It's made from lead sulfide and bismuth sulfide, more commonly known as the minerals galena and bismuthinite.
Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system, with an estimated surface temperature of 471°C (880 degrees Fahrenheit) due to its dense atmosphere. This is hot enough to melt lead or zinc.
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| Venus in approximately true colour, a nearly uniform pale cream |
HISTORY
Though Venus is an elusive planet - by turns it is the morning and the evening star - its path was calculated by the Mayas thousands of years ago with an error of only fourteen seconds a year.
The ancient Romans named it after their goddess Venus. Venus is the only planet in our Solar System named after a woman.
On July 8, 1941 the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney along with the rest of her squadron attempted to shoot down the planet Venus thinking it was a high altitude bomber. Venus managed to survive the engagement.
Venus was the first planet beyond Earth visited by a spacecraft when NASA's Mariner 2 flew past in 1962.
The Venera series of space probes were developed by the Soviet Union between 1961 and 1984 to gather data from Venus. When Venera 3 crashed on Venus in 1966, it became the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface.
The following year Venera 4 performed in-place analysis of the environment of Venus and became the first spacecraft to land (rather than crash land) on another planet, although it stopped working before that.
On December 15, 1970 Venera 7 successfully landed on Venus becoming the first successful soft landing on another planet and send information back to earth. The probe transmitted information back home for 53 minutes, which included 23 minutes from the surface before succumbing to heat and pressure.
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| Reproduction of descent vehicle of the Venera-7. By Stanislav Kozlovskiy |
The first detailed maps of Venus did not emerge until the arrival of the Magellan orbiter in 1991.
FUN VENUS FACTS
A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet passes directly between the Sun and Earth. It is one of the rarest predictable astronomical phenomena and happens in pairs eight years apart that are separated from each other by 105 or 121 years. The last transit before 2012 was in 2004, and the next pair of transits will occur in 2117 and 2125.
Venus is the brightest thing in the night sky except for the Moon. The second brightest object on the image below is Jupiter.
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| By Brocken Inaglory - File:Venus with reflection.jpg, |
Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.
It takes 243 Earth-days for Venus to rotate about its axis, yet it takes 225 Earth-days for Venus to orbit the sun. That means that, on Venus, a day takes longer than a year.
Venus rotates so slowly, you could watch the sunset forever just by walking.
Much of the Venusian surface appears to have been shaped by volcanic activity. The planet has several times as many volcanoes as Earth, and it has 167 large volcanoes that are over 100 kilometers (62 mi) across.
Venus has 'snow-capped' mountains but it has been found the 'snow' is actually metal. It's made from lead sulfide and bismuth sulfide, more commonly known as the minerals galena and bismuthinite.
Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system, with an estimated surface temperature of 471°C (880 degrees Fahrenheit) due to its dense atmosphere. This is hot enough to melt lead or zinc.
Venus's average temperature (471°C) is hotter than Mercury's daytime temperature (430°C) despite being more than twice the distance from the sun
Winds in the middle cloud layer on Venus can reach speeds of 450 mph.
The pressure on Venus' surface is 92 times that of Earth or roughly the pressure found 900 m (3,000 ft) underwater on our planet. No man-made object has survived on Venus for more than 127 minutes.
Venus' atmosphere (air) is 96% carbon dioxide with clouds of sulphuric acid, a chemical that is extremely poisonous to humans.
Winds in the middle cloud layer on Venus can reach speeds of 450 mph.
The pressure on Venus' surface is 92 times that of Earth or roughly the pressure found 900 m (3,000 ft) underwater on our planet. No man-made object has survived on Venus for more than 127 minutes.
Venus' atmosphere (air) is 96% carbon dioxide with clouds of sulphuric acid, a chemical that is extremely poisonous to humans.
Astronomers reported in September 2020, the detection of phosphine, a possible signature of organic life, in the atmosphere of Venus. The detection of phosphine in Venus's atmosphere was not linked to any known abiotic method of production present, or possible under Venusian conditions.
Because it is obscured by thick sulfuric acid clouds, the only way scientists are able to see the surface of Venus is by using infrared and ultraviolet cameras and radar. Plans have been proposed for rovers or more complex missions, but they are hindered by Venus's hostile surface conditions.
Your voice would be deeper on Venus. The planet's dense atmosphere would cause your vocal cords to vibrate more slowly.
Sources Kmmsam, Isaac Asimov's Book Of Facts
Because it is obscured by thick sulfuric acid clouds, the only way scientists are able to see the surface of Venus is by using infrared and ultraviolet cameras and radar. Plans have been proposed for rovers or more complex missions, but they are hindered by Venus's hostile surface conditions.
Your voice would be deeper on Venus. The planet's dense atmosphere would cause your vocal cords to vibrate more slowly.
Sources Kmmsam, Isaac Asimov's Book Of Facts
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