Venus, the second planet from the sun, is named for the Roman goddess of love and beauty. The planet the only planet named after a female may have been named for the most beautiful deity of her pantheon because it shone the brightest of the five planets known to ancient astronomers.
In ancient times, Venus often thought to be two different stars, the evening star and the morning star that is, the ones that first appeared at sunset and sunrise. During Latin, they were respectively known as Vesper and Lucifer. In Christian times, Lucifer, or “light-bringer,” became known as the name of Satan before his fall. However, further observations of Venus in the space age show a very hellish environment. This makes Venus a very difficult planet to observe from up close, because spacecraft do not survive long on its surface.
General Facts About Venus
| Mass: | 4,867,320,000,000,000 billion kg (0.815 x Earth) | ||||||||||
| Equatorial Diameter: | 12,104 km | Polar Diameter: | 12,104 km | Equatorial Circumference: | 38,025 km | Known Moons: | None | Notable Moons: | None | Orbit Distance: | 108,209,475 km (0.73 AU) |
| Orbit Period: | 224.70 Earth days | ||||||||||
| Surface Temperature: | 462° C | ||||||||||
| First Record: | 14th Century BC | ||||||||||
| Recorded By: | Babylonian astronomers |
Venus and Earth named as twins because they are similar size, mass, density, composition and gravity. However, the similarities end there. It is the hottest planet in the solar system. Although this planet is not the planet closest to the sun, its dense atmosphere traps heat in a runaway version of the greenhouse effect that warms Earth.
This planet has a hellis atmosphere as well, consisting mainly of carbon dioxide with clouds of sulfuric acid, and scientists have only detected trace amounts of water in the atmosphere. The atmosphere is heavier than that of any other planet, leading to a surface pressure 90 times that of Earth.
The very top layer of Venus’ clouds zip around the planet every four Earth-days, propelled by hurricane-force winds traveling roughly 224 mph (360 kph). This super-rotation of the planet’s atmosphere, some 60 times faster than Venus itself rotates, may be one of Venus’ biggest mysteries. The winds at the planet’s surface are much slower, estimated to be just a few miles per hour.
Some Amazing Facts about “Venus”.
- Studies have suggested that billions of years ago Venus’s atmosphere was much more like Earth’s than it is now, and that there may have been substantial quantities of liquid water on the surface
- It Qualifies as the Brightest Planet in the Sky.
- It has at Least 1,600 Volcanoes – More Than Any Other Planet.
- The Planet Has Its Own “Greenhouse Effect” Because Temperature Are so High.
- Days Last Longer than Years on this planet.
- Winds on Venus Can be Stronger than Tornadoes.
- Visiting Spacecraft Would Not be Able to Survive on this planet.
- It actually Rotates Backwards
- Your Weight Wouldn’t Alter Much on Venus
- This planet, known as the Morning Star and the Evening Star.
