Venus
"Observation: there was absolutely nothing to see on Venus. Conclusion: It must be covered with life." - Carl Sagan
Venus is the second planet from the sun, our closest neighbour and one of four inner terrestrial (rocky) planets. It was named Earths twin, generally by its size and density, however, Venus and Earth are not twins due to the major differences. Venus was named after the Roman goddess Venus, associated with love, beauty, desire, fertility, success, and wealth (I guess Beer googles was a thing back then).
The Soviet space probe missions Venera 15 and 16 as well as the American Pioneer Venus and Magellan spacecraft collected the majority of the information we currently know about the morphology of the dense clouds that cover Venus, obscuring its surface between 1978 and 1994. Currently, we have accurate knowledge of 98 percent of the surface. |
Venus, in contrast to the majority of the other planets in the solar system, rotates on its axis backwards, which is another significant difference from Earth. Thus, the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east on Venus, the polar opposite of how it rises and sets on Earth. (This planet's peculiar rotation is not unique to our solar system (Uranus follows a similar spin)).
The first planet to be surveyed by a spaceship was Venus, which was successfully flown by and scanned on December 14, 1962, by NASA's Mariner 2. Since then, a large number of spacecraft from the United States and other countries have investigated Venus, including NASA's Magellan, which used radar to survey the planet's surface. The most successful spacecraft so far to land on Venus was the Soviet, but they didn't last long owing to the planet's intense heat and crushing pressure. In 1978, an American probe that was part of NASA's Pioneer Venus Multiprobes managed to survive the collision for almost an hour.
The first planet to be surveyed by a spaceship was Venus, which was successfully flown by and scanned on December 14, 1962, by NASA's Mariner 2. Since then, a large number of spacecraft from the United States and other countries have investigated Venus, including NASA's Magellan, which used radar to survey the planet's surface. The most successful spacecraft so far to land on Venus was the Soviet, but they didn't last long owing to the planet's intense heat and crushing pressure. In 1978, an American probe that was part of NASA's Pioneer Venus Multiprobes managed to survive the collision for almost an hour.
Other details:
- No moons
- Orbital year - 224.7 days
- Average day - 117 Earth days
- Radius - 7520.8 miles (12103.6km)
- 396.7 miles (638.4km) smaller than Earth
- Surface pressure - 93 bars (93 megapascals)
- Gravity - 0.904g
- 67 million miles from the sun (108.51 million km) (25million miles from Earth (221,46km))
New and future missions
Three more Venus missions were announced in June 2021. NASA and ESA each announced new missions:
The first NASA spacecraft to explore Venus since the 1990s is VERITAS, which stands for Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy. The launch of the spacecraft won't happen before December 2027. In its orbit around Venus, it will collect information to show how the trajectories of Venus and Earth changed and how Venus lost its ability to support life.
NASA's DAVINCI mission is scheduled to launch in the late 2020s. DAVINCI will send a probe down to the surface of Venus after examining the top of the atmosphere. During its hour-long fall, the probe will take thousands of measurements and close-up pictures of the surface. The probe might not survive the landing, but if it does, it might offer some more science for a while.
EnVision has been chosen by the ESA to conduct in-depth observations of Venus. As a significant mission partner, NASA is supplying the VenSAR Synthetic Aperture Radar to collect high-resolution data on the planet's surface characteristics.
Three more Venus missions were announced in June 2021. NASA and ESA each announced new missions:
The first NASA spacecraft to explore Venus since the 1990s is VERITAS, which stands for Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy. The launch of the spacecraft won't happen before December 2027. In its orbit around Venus, it will collect information to show how the trajectories of Venus and Earth changed and how Venus lost its ability to support life.
NASA's DAVINCI mission is scheduled to launch in the late 2020s. DAVINCI will send a probe down to the surface of Venus after examining the top of the atmosphere. During its hour-long fall, the probe will take thousands of measurements and close-up pictures of the surface. The probe might not survive the landing, but if it does, it might offer some more science for a while.
EnVision has been chosen by the ESA to conduct in-depth observations of Venus. As a significant mission partner, NASA is supplying the VenSAR Synthetic Aperture Radar to collect high-resolution data on the planet's surface characteristics.
Atmosphere, Magnetosphere and the Climate
Venuses Atmosphere is:
The Density at the surface is 65kg/m3 (4.1lb/ Cu ft) which is 50 times as dense as Earth’s atmosphere at 20oc/ 68F at sea level. Venus has the strongest greenhouse effect in the solar system which is why the planet has a temperature of at least 462oC (864F), the hottest temperature out of the terrestrial planets.
Venus is nearly twice the distance to the sun compared to mercury, yet it only receives 25% of the solar radiance (Radiant flux received by a surface per unit area) compared to Mercury. Compared to Earth, Venus’s atmosphere is rich in primordial gases which could be reasoned from the following:
- 96.5% Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
- 3.5% Nitrogen (N)
The Density at the surface is 65kg/m3 (4.1lb/ Cu ft) which is 50 times as dense as Earth’s atmosphere at 20oc/ 68F at sea level. Venus has the strongest greenhouse effect in the solar system which is why the planet has a temperature of at least 462oC (864F), the hottest temperature out of the terrestrial planets.
Venus is nearly twice the distance to the sun compared to mercury, yet it only receives 25% of the solar radiance (Radiant flux received by a surface per unit area) compared to Mercury. Compared to Earth, Venus’s atmosphere is rich in primordial gases which could be reasoned from the following:
- A very large comet impact
- Accretion of a more massive primary atmosphere
There are suggestions (but no evidence) that life could have adapted to live on the planet, while other research papers suggest life could exist in the upper atmosphere in the upper cloud layers where temperatures range closer to Earth’s surface temperature. This further backed by phosphine has been detected with no known pathway for abiotic production. (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-1174-4; The most recent paper - https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.05160)
Above the Carbon Dioxide, there are dense clouds consisting mainly of Sulphuric Acid (H2SO4) formed by Sulphur Dioxide (SO2)and water (H2O) in a chemical reaction process (Sulfuric Acid hydrate)
Additionally, the clouds contain 1%~ ferric chloride (FeCl3) with other constitutes including:
Above the Carbon Dioxide, there are dense clouds consisting mainly of Sulphuric Acid (H2SO4) formed by Sulphur Dioxide (SO2)and water (H2O) in a chemical reaction process (Sulfuric Acid hydrate)
Additionally, the clouds contain 1%~ ferric chloride (FeCl3) with other constitutes including:
- Ferric Sulphate – Fe2(SO4)3(H20)n
- Aluminium Chloride – AlCl3
- Phosphoric anhydride – P4O10
The clouds scatter 90% of the sunlight back into space, preventing the visual of Venus’s surface. Additionally, windspeeds in the upper clouds exceed 185MPH, meaning the cloud cover orbits the planet every 4-5 days. The clouds move about 60 times the speed of Venus’s rotation, comparing this the clouds on Earth only move about 10-20% of the Earth’s rotation.
The surface temperature does not change regardless of the orbit around the sun, or directly/ indirectly facing the sun. This is due to heat transfer by winds doesn’t vary significantly between hemispheres. Furthermore, the winds are slow on the planet. |
Surface/ Geography/ Geology/ Structure
Over the last 350-750 million years, the surface has been thought to have gone through a massive resurface, erasing most of its early surface by the means of volcanos and tectonic forces, but potentially could have surface features as young as 150 million years old. Furthermore, Venus, next to Earth, has the least amount of impact craters which supports a young surface.
The surface has extremely large volcanos and many untold smaller volcanos. The land mass, in places, is higher than Mt Everest. One such area is Aphrodite Terra, which stretches across the equator.
The surface has extremely large volcanos and many untold smaller volcanos. The land mass, in places, is higher than Mt Everest. One such area is Aphrodite Terra, which stretches across the equator.