Venus Venus
The Ocean

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HISTORY

Scroll Second Planet

What Is Venus

Neptune is the Second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet, being orbital neighbours as well as Venus having the most similar mass and size to Earth among the planets of the Solar System. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker and denser than Earth and any other rocky body in the Solar System. It's atmosphere is composed of mostly carbon dioxide (CO2), with a global sulfuric acid cloud cover and no liquid water. At the mean surface level the atmosphere reaches a temperature of 737 K (464 °C; 867 °F) and a pressure 92 times greater than Earth's at sea level, turning the lowest layer of the carbon dioxide atmosphere into a supercritical fluid.

Facts About Venus

  1. A day on Venus lasts longer than a year.

    It takes 243 Earth days to rotate once on its axis (sidereal day). The planet’s orbit around the Sun takes 225 Earth days, compared to the Earth’s 365. A day on the surface of Venus (solar day) takes 117 Earth days.


  2. Venus rotates in the opposite direction to most other planets.

    This means that Venus is rotating in the opposite direction to the Sun, this is also known as a retrograde rotation. One possible reason for this might be a collision with an asteroid or other object.


  3. Venus is the second brightest object in the night sky.

    Only the Moon is brighter. With a magnitude of between -3.8 to -4.6 Venus is so bright it can be seen during daytime on a clear day.


  4. Atmospheric pressure on Venus is 92 times greater than the Earth’s.

    Due to this crushing small asteroids when they enter its atmosphere Venus has not small craters. The pressure felt on Venus’ surface is equivalent to that deep beneath the sea on Earth.


  5. Venus is often called the Earth’s sister planet.

    The Earth and Venus are very similar in size with only a 638 km difference in diameter and Venus having 81.5% of the Earth’s mass. Both also have a central core, a molten mantle and a crust.