Planet of Love (and sulfuric acid rain)
Order of Topics
•Properties
•Orbit and
rotation
•Composition
and internal
structure
•Surface features
and history
• Atmosphere
•Magnetosphere
Physical Properties of Venus
Mass
4.870 x 1024 Kg
Mean radius
6.1 x103 Km
Mean density
5244 Kg/m3
Rotation Period
243.025 Earth Days (Retrograde)
Orbital Period
224.7 Earth days
Mean Distance From Sun
1.1 x 108 Km (0.723 AU)
Atmosphere
96% CO2 and 3.5% N
Surface Pressure
92 Bars
Surface Temperature
735 Kelvin
Magnetic Field Strength
< 0.001 (Earth =1)
Venus’s Synodic
Cycle
Point 1 Venus is a
Evening Star
Point 2 Venus is an
Evening Star
Between points 3
and 4 Venus is not
visible
Point 5 Venus is an
Morning Star
Point 6 Venus is a
Morning Star
Geology of Venus
Venus has a thin crust with active volcanoes
No plate tectonics
Mostly flat or rolling hills
Two small uplift plateaus
Surface Age
Some large, old craters
About 1000 over the
surface
Thick atmosphere
prevents small meteors
from reaching surface
Some lava flows free of
craters
About 1/10 the cratering
rate of the Moon
200 million to one
billion year old surface
Atmospheric
Composition of
Venus
96.5% CO2
3% N
Traces of
Sulfur
Dioxide
Water Vapor
Argon
Venus Globe
The highly efficient
greenhouse gases on
Venus have scorched
its surface. The
temperature on
Venus is about 735 K.
The dense
atmosphere evens
out the temperature
and has eliminated
seasons on Venus.
Slow winds near the
surface rotate with
the planet once every
243 days.
There is no
appreciable
magnetic field on
Venus, but its
dense atmosphere
deflects solar
winds.
Two things
needed for a
magnetic field.
1.
Liquid metal
core
2. Rapid Rotation
UV Venus
The pale yellow clouds of
Venus are composed of
concentrated sulfuric
acid droplets.
It takes only 4 days for
the upper level clouds to
travel around Venus,
being pushed by fierce
rapid winds.
Venus Transit
A transit of Venus
occurs when Venus
passes directly
between the sun and
earth. This
alignment is rare,
coming in pairs that
are eight years apart
but separated by over
a century.
The most recent
transit of Venus was
a thrilling sight in
2004. After the June
2012 transit of Venus
(the last one in your
lifetime), the next
such alignment
occurs in 2117.
Venus and the Moon, Western Colorado