VENUS
Venus the
second closest
planet to the Sun and
after the moon is
also the brightest
object in the night
sky. Venus is a very
fascinating planet
which was once
thought to have
oceans that were dried
up because it was
so hot being near the
Sun Venus is
a terrestrial planet and
is sometimes
referred to as Earth's
"sister planet"
because of their similar size, gravity, and bulk composition. The surface of
Venus is obscured by an opaque layer of clouds made up of sulfuric acid.
A day on Venus lasts longer than a year because it takes 243 Earth
days to make it rotate once on its axis. The planet’s orbit around the Sun
takes 225 Earth days, compared to the Earth’s 365. Venus’s gravity is 8.87
m/s², and is about 67,240,000 miles (108,200,000 km) away from the Sun.
There are many geophysical similarities between Venus and the
Earth, temperature, however is not one of them. Venus has the average
temperature of 460 degrees Celsius. Venus is also the hottest planet, most
likely due to being so close to the Sun, which ends up causing a
greenhouse effect. On Venus, most of the sun's heat fails to make it
through the thick atmosphere. As such, the planet not only doesn't
experience significant temperature changes over the course of the year,
but it also keeps things constant from night to day. Speaking of Night and
Day, Venus reaches its maximum brightness
shortly before sunrise or shortly after sunset, for
which reason it has been referred to by ancient
cultures as the Morning Star or Evening Star
There are no known satellites of Venus.
Between the 1670s and the 1770s, there
were several observations of what appeared to
be a satellite approximately 1/4 the size of Venus. Many
theories exist to explain these sightings as well as one in 1892 by E. E.
Barnard, including optical illusions, stars, and even a tenth planet, but
recent observations have not revealed any satellite. However Venus has
been visited by several other spacecraft. Past probes to visit
Venus included Mariner 2, Pioneer Venus Orbiter &
Pioneer Venus Multiprobe (Pioneer 12 & 13),
and Magellan while another mission, called Venus
Express, and is in the works by the European Space
Agency.