Description and characteristics of the planet Venus. Planet Venus: a possible shelter or the nearest danger Venus the period of rotation around the axis

Venus- the second planet of the solar system: mass, size, distance from the Sun and planets, orbit, composition, temperature, interesting facts, history of research.

Venus is the second planet from the Sun and the hottest planet in the solar system. For ancient people, Venus was a constant companion. It is an evening star and the brightest neighbor, which has been observed for thousands of years after the recognition of planetary nature. That is why it appears in mythology and was noted in many cultures and peoples. With each century, interest has grown, and these observations have helped to understand the structure of our system. Before proceeding with the description and characterization, find out interesting facts about Venus.

Interesting facts about the planet Venus

A day lasts longer than a year

• The rotation axis (sidereal day) takes 243 days, and the orbital path covers 225 days. A sunny day lasts 117 days.

Rotates in the opposite direction

• Venus is retrograde, which means it rotates in the opposite direction. Perhaps in the past there was a collision with a large asteroid. It also lacks satellites.

Second brightest in the sky

• For an earthly observer, only the Moon is brighter than Venus. With a magnitude of -3.8 to -4.6, the planet is so bright that it occasionally shows up in the middle of the day.

Atmospheric pressure is 92 times that of the earth

• Although they are similar in size, the surface of Venus is not as cratered as the thick atmosphere obliterates incoming asteroids. The pressure on its surface is comparable to what is felt at great depths.

Venus is an earthly sister

• The difference in their diameters is 638 km, and the mass of Venus reaches 81.5% of the Earth's. Also converge in structure.

Called the Morning and Evening Star

• Ancient people believed that they had two different objects in front of them: Lucifer and Vesper (among the Romans). The fact is that its orbit overtakes the earth's and the planet appears at night or during the day. It was described in detail by the Maya in 650 BC.

hottest planet

• The temperature indicator of the planet rises to 462 ° C. Venus is not endowed with a remarkable axial tilt, therefore it is devoid of seasonality. The dense atmospheric layer is represented by carbon dioxide (96.5%) and retains heat, creating a greenhouse effect.

The study ended in 2015

• In 2006, the Venus Express apparatus was sent to the planet, which entered its orbit. Initially, the mission covered 500 days, but then it was extended until 2015. He managed to find more than a thousand volcanoes and volcanic centers with a length of 20 km.

The first mission belonged to the USSR

• In 1961, the Soviet probe Venera-1 set off for Venus, but contact was quickly cut off. The same thing happened to the American Mariner 1. In 1966, the USSR managed to lower the first apparatus (Venus-3). This helped to see the surface hidden behind a dense acid haze. It was possible to advance in research with the advent of radiographic mapping in the 1960s. It is believed that in the past the planet had oceans that evaporated due to rising temperatures.

Size, mass and orbit of the planet Venus

There are many similarities between Venus and the Earth, so the neighbor is often called the sister of the Earth. By mass - 4.8866 x 10 24 kg (81.5% of the earth), surface area - 4.60 x 10 8 km 2 (90%), and volume - 9.28 x 10 11 km 3 (86.6%).

The distance from the Sun to Venus reaches 0.72 AU. e. (108,000,000 km), and the world is practically devoid of eccentricity. Its aphelion reaches 108,939,000 km, and its perihelion reaches 107,477,000 km. So we can assume that this is the most circular orbital path among all the planets. The bottom photo successfully demonstrated a comparison of the sizes of Venus and the Earth.

When Venus is located between us and the Sun, it comes closest to the Earth of all planets - 41 million km. This happens once every 584 days. It spends 224.65 days on the orbital path (61.5% of the Earth).

Equatorial	6051.5 km
Medium radius	6051.8 km
Surface area	4.60 10 8 km²
Volume	9.38 10 11 km³
Weight	4.86 10 24 kg
Average density	5.24 g/cm³
Acceleration free fall at the equator	8.87 m/s² 0.904g
first cosmic speed	7.328 km/s
Second space velocity	10.363 km/s
equatorial speed rotation	6.52 km/h
Rotation period	243.02 days
Axis Tilt	177.36°
right ascension north pole	18 h 11 min 2 s 272.76°
North declination	67.16°
Albedo	0,65
Apparent stellar magnitude	−4,7
Angular diameter	9.7"–66.0"

Venus is not quite a standard planet and stands out to many. If almost all the planets in order in the solar system rotate counterclockwise, then Venus does it clockwise. In addition, the process is slow and one of its days covers 243 earth. It turns out that the sidereal day is longer than the planetary year.

The composition and surface of the planet Venus

It is believed that the internal structure resembles that of the earth with a core, mantle and crust. The core must be at least partially in a liquid state, because both planets cooled almost simultaneously.

But plate tectonics speaks volumes. The crust of Venus is too strong, which led to a decrease in heat loss. Perhaps this was the reason for the absence of an internal magnetic field. Study the structure of Venus in the figure.

The creation of the surface was influenced by volcanic activity. There are approximately 167 large volcanoes on the planet (more than on Earth), whose height exceeds 100 km. Their presence is based on the absence of tectonic movement, which is why we are looking at the ancient crust. Its age is estimated at 300-600 million years.

It is believed that volcanoes can still spew lava. Soviet missions, as well as ESA observations, confirmed the presence of lightning storms in the atmospheric layer. There is no usual precipitation on Venus, so lightning can be created by a volcano.

Also, a periodic increase / decrease in the amount of sulfur dioxide was noted, which speaks in favor of eruptions. The IR view captures the appearance of hot spots hinting at lava. It can be seen that the surface ideally preserves craters, of which there are approximately 1000. They can reach 3-280 km in diameter.

You will not find smaller craters, because small asteroids simply burn up in a dense atmosphere. To reach the surface, it is necessary to exceed 50 meters in diameter.

Atmosphere and temperature of the planet Venus

Viewing the surface of Venus was previously extremely difficult, because the view was blocked by an incredibly dense atmospheric haze, represented by carbon dioxide with small impurities of nitrogen. The pressure is 92 bar, and the atmospheric mass exceeds the earth's by 93 times.

Let's not forget that Venus is the hottest among the solar planets. The average is 462°C, which is consistently held night and day. It's all about the presence of a huge amount of CO 2 , which forms a powerful greenhouse effect with clouds of sulfur dioxide.

The surface is isothermal (does not affect the distribution or changes in temperature at all). The minimum axis tilt is 3°, which also prevents the appearance of seasons. Changes in temperature are observed only with height.

It is worth noting that the temperature at the highest point of Mount Maxwell reaches 380 ° C, and atmospheric pressure - 45 bar.

If you find yourself on the planet, you will immediately encounter powerful wind currents, whose acceleration reaches 85 km / s. They go around the entire planet in 4-5 days. In addition, dense clouds can form lightning.

Atmosphere of Venus

Astronomer Dmitry Titov about the temperature regime on the planet, clouds of sulfuric acid and the greenhouse effect:

History of the study of the planet Venus

People in ancient times knew about its existence, but mistakenly believed that there were two different objects in front of them: morning and evening stars. It is worth noting that they officially began to perceive Venus as a single object in the 6th century BC. e., but as early as 1581 BC. e. there was a Babylonian tablet, which clearly explained the true nature of the planet.

For many, Venus has become the personification of the goddess of love. The Greeks named after Aphrodite, and for the Romans, the morning appearance became Lucifer.

In 1032, Avicenna first observed the passage of Venus in front of the Sun and realized that the planet is located closer to the Earth than the Sun. In the 12th century, Ibn Bajai found two black spots, which were later explained by the transits of Venus and Mercury.

In 1639 Jeremiah Horrocks oversaw the transit. Galileo Galilei at the beginning of the 17th century used his instrument and noted the phases of the planet. This was an extremely important observation, which indicated that Venus went around the Sun, which means that Copernicus was right.

In 1761, Mikhail Lomonosov discovered the atmosphere on the planet, and in 1790 it was noted by Johann Schroeter.

The first serious observation was made by Chester Lyman in 1866. Around the dark side of the planet, a full ring of light was noted, which once again hinted at the presence of an atmosphere. The first UV survey was carried out in the 1920s.

Spectroscopic observations told about the features of rotation. Vesto Slifer tried to determine the Doppler shift. But when he failed, he began to suspect that the planet was rotating too slowly. Moreover, in the 1950s realized that we are dealing with retrograde rotation.

Radar was used in the 1960s. and received rotations close to modern indicators. Details like Mount Maxwell could be talked about thanks to the Arecibo Observatory.

Exploration of the planet Venus

For the study of Venus, scientists of the USSR actively began, who in the 1960s. sent several spaceships. The first mission ended unsuccessfully, as it did not even reach the planet.

The same thing happened with the American first attempt. But Mariner 2, sent in 1962, managed to pass at a distance of 34,833 km from the planetary surface. Observations confirmed the presence of high heat, which immediately ended all hopes for the existence of life.

The first apparatus on the surface was the Soviet Venera-3, which landed in 1966. But the information was never obtained, because the connection was immediately interrupted. In 1967, Venera-4 rushed. As it descended, the mechanism determined the temperature and pressure. But the batteries quickly ran out and communication was lost while he was still in the process of descending.

Mariner 10 flew at an altitude of 4000 km in 1967. He received information about the pressure, atmospheric density and composition of the planet.

In 1969, Venera 5 and 6 also arrived, which managed to transmit data in 50 minutes of descent. But Soviet scientists did not give up. Venera-7 crashed on the surface, but managed to transmit information for 23 minutes.

From 1972-1975 The USSR launched three more probes, which managed to get the first pictures of the surface.

Mariner 10 took more than 4,000 images on its way to Mercury. At the end of the 70s. NASA prepared two probes (Pioneers), one of which was to study the atmosphere and create a surface map, and the second to enter the atmosphere.

In 1985, the Vega program was launched, where the devices were supposed to explore Halley's comet and go to Venus. They dropped the probes, but the atmosphere turned out to be more turbulent and the mechanisms were blown away by powerful winds.

In 1989, Magellan went to Venus with his radar. He spent 4.5 years in orbit and displayed 98% of the surface and 95% of the gravitational field. In the end, he was sent to his death in the atmosphere to get density data.

Galileo and Cassini watched Venus fleetingly. And in 2007 they sent MESSENGER, which was able to make some measurements on the way to Mercury. The atmosphere and clouds were also monitored by the Venus Express probe in 2006. The mission ended in 2014.

The Japanese agency JAXA sent the Akatsuki probe in 2010, but it failed to reach orbit.

In 2013, NASA sent an experimental suborbital space telescope that studied UV light from the planet's atmosphere to accurately investigate Venus' watery history.

Also in 2018, ESA may launch the BepiColombo project. There are also rumors about the Venus In-Situ Explorer project, which could start in 2022. Its purpose is to study the characteristics of regolith. Russia can also send the Venera-D spacecraft in 2024, which they plan to lower to the surface.

Due to the proximity to us, as well as the similarity in certain parameters, there were those who expected to discover life on Venus. Now we know about her hellish hospitality. But there is an opinion that once it had water and a favorable atmosphere. Moreover, the planet is inside the habitable zone and has an ozone layer. Of course, the greenhouse effect led to the disappearance of water billions of years ago.

However, this does not mean that we cannot count on human colonies. The most suitable conditions are located at an altitude of 50 km. These will be air cities based on durable airships. Of course, all this is difficult to do, but these projects prove that we are still interested in this neighbor. In the meantime, we are forced to observe it at a distance and dream about future settlements. Now you know which planet Venus is. Be sure to follow the links to find out more interesting facts, and consider a map of the surface of Venus.

Click on the image to enlarge it

Useful articles.

Venus is the second planet farthest from the Sun (the second planet in the solar system).

Venus belongs to the terrestrial planets and is named after the ancient Roman goddess of love and beauty. Venus has no natural satellites. Has a dense atmosphere.

Venus has been known to people since ancient times.

Venus' neighbors are Mercury and Earth.

The structure of Venus is a subject of controversy. The most probable is: an iron core with a mass of 25% of the mass of the planet, a mantle (extends 3300 kilometers deep into the planet) and a crust 16 kilometers thick.

A significant part of the surface of Venus (90%) is covered with solidified basaltic lava. On it there are vast hills, the largest of which are comparable in size to the earth's continents, mountains and tens of thousands of volcanoes. Impact craters on Venus are practically absent.

Venus has no magnetic field.

Venus is the third brightest object in the Earth's sky after the Sun and Moon.

Orbit of Venus

The average distance from Venus to the Sun is just under 108 million kilometers (0.72 astronomical units).

Perihelion (nearest point in orbit to the Sun): 107.5 million kilometers (0.718 astronomical units).

Aphelion (farthest point of the orbit from the Sun): 108.9 million kilometers (0.728 astronomical units).

The average velocity of Venus in its orbit is 35 kilometers per second.

The planet makes one revolution around the Sun in 224.7 Earth days.

The length of a day on Venus is 243 Earth days.

The distance from Venus to Earth varies from 38 to 261 million kilometers.

The direction of rotation of Venus is opposite to the direction of rotation of all (except Uranus) planets of the solar system.

Planets of the solar system

According to the official position of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), an organization that assigns names to astronomical objects, there are only 8 planets.

Pluto was removed from the category of planets in 2006. because in the Kuiper belt are objects that are larger / or equal in size to Pluto. Therefore, even if it is taken as a full-fledged celestial body, then it is necessary to add Eris to this category, which has almost the same size with Pluto.

As defined by MAC, there are 8 known planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

All planets are divided into two categories depending on their physical characteristics: terrestrial and gas giants.

Schematic representation of the location of the planets

terrestrial planets

Mercury

The smallest planet in the solar system has a radius of only 2440 km. The period of revolution around the Sun, for ease of understanding, equated to the earth's year, is 88 days, while Mercury has time to complete a revolution around its own axis only one and a half times. Thus, its day lasts approximately 59 Earth days. For a long time it was believed that this planet is always turned to the Sun by the same side, since the periods of its visibility from the Earth were repeated with a frequency approximately equal to four Mercury days. This misconception was dispelled with the advent of the possibility of using radar research and conducting continuous observations using space stations. The orbit of Mercury is one of the most unstable; not only the speed of movement and its distance from the Sun change, but also the position itself. Anyone interested can observe this effect.

Mercury in color, as seen by the MESSENGER spacecraft

Mercury's proximity to the Sun has caused it to experience the largest temperature fluctuations of any of the planets in our system. The average daytime temperature is about 350 degrees Celsius, and the nighttime temperature is -170 °C. Sodium, oxygen, helium, potassium, hydrogen and argon have been identified in the atmosphere. There is a theory that it was previously a satellite of Venus, but so far this remains unproven. It has no satellites of its own.

Venus

The second planet from the Sun, the atmosphere of which is almost entirely composed of carbon dioxide. It is often called the Morning Star and the Evening Star, because it is the first of the stars to become visible after sunset, just as before dawn it continues to be visible even when all other stars have disappeared from view. The percentage of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 96%, there is relatively little nitrogen in it - almost 4%, and water vapor and oxygen are present in very small amounts.

Venus in the UV spectrum

Such an atmosphere creates a greenhouse effect, the temperature on the surface because of this is even higher than that of Mercury and reaches 475 ° C. Considered the slowest, the Venusian day lasts 243 Earth days, which is almost equal to a year on Venus - 225 Earth days. Many call it the sister of the Earth because of the mass and radius, the values ​​​​of which are very close to the earth's indicators. The radius of Venus is 6052 km (0.85% of the earth). There are no satellites, like Mercury.

The third planet from the Sun and the only one in our system where there is liquid water on the surface, without which life on the planet could not develop. At least life as we know it. The radius of the Earth is 6371 km and, unlike the rest of the celestial bodies in our system, more than 70% of its surface is covered with water. The rest of the space is occupied by the continents. Another feature of the Earth is the tectonic plates hidden under the planet's mantle. At the same time, they are able to move, albeit at a very low speed, which over time causes a change in the landscape. The speed of the planet moving along it is 29-30 km / s.

Our planet from space

One rotation around its axis takes almost 24 hours, and a complete orbit lasts 365 days, which is much longer in comparison with the nearest neighboring planets. The Earth day and year are also taken as a standard, but this is done only for the convenience of perceiving time intervals on other planets. The Earth has one natural satellite, the Moon.

Mars

The fourth planet from the Sun, known for its rarefied atmosphere. Since 1960, Mars has been actively explored by scientists from several countries, including the USSR and the USA. Not all research programs have been successful, but water found in some areas suggests that primitive life exists on Mars, or existed in the past.

The brightness of this planet allows you to see it from Earth without any instruments. Moreover, once every 15-17 years, during the Opposition, it becomes the brightest object in the sky, eclipsing even Jupiter and Venus.

The radius is almost half that of the earth and is 3390 km, but the year is much longer - 687 days. He has 2 satellites - Phobos and Deimos .

Visual model of the solar system

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• Sun

  The sun is a star, which is a hot ball of hot gases at the center of our solar system. Its influence extends far beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto. Without the Sun and its intense energy and heat, there would be no life on Earth. There are billions of stars, like our Sun, scattered throughout the Milky Way galaxy.

• Mercury

  Sun-scorched Mercury is only slightly larger than Earth's moon. Like the Moon, Mercury is practically devoid of an atmosphere and cannot smooth out the traces of impact from the fall of meteorites, therefore, like the Moon, it is covered with craters. The day side of Mercury is very hot on the Sun, and on the night side the temperature drops hundreds of degrees below zero. In the craters of Mercury, which are located at the poles, there is ice. Mercury makes one revolution around the Sun in 88 days.

• Venus

  Venus is a world of monstrous heat (even more than on Mercury) and volcanic activity. Similar in structure and size to Earth, Venus is covered in a thick and toxic atmosphere that creates a strong greenhouse effect. This scorched world is hot enough to melt lead. Radar images through the mighty atmosphere revealed volcanoes and deformed mountains. Venus rotates in the opposite direction from the rotation of most planets.

• Earth is an ocean planet. Our home, with its abundance of water and life, makes it unique in our solar system. Other planets, including several moons, also have ice deposits, atmospheres, seasons, and even weather, but only on Earth did all these components come together in such a way that life became possible.

• Mars

  Although details of the surface of Mars are difficult to see from Earth, telescope observations show that Mars has seasons and white spots at the poles. For decades, people have assumed that the bright and dark areas on Mars are patches of vegetation and that Mars might be a suitable place for life, and that water exists in the polar caps. When the Mariner 4 spacecraft flew by Mars in 1965, many of the scientists were shocked to see pictures of the bleak, cratered planet. Mars turned out to be a dead planet. More recent missions, however, have shown that Mars holds many mysteries that have yet to be solved.

• Jupiter

  Jupiter is the most massive planet in our solar system, has four large moons and many small moons. Jupiter forms a kind of miniature solar system. To turn into a full-fledged star, Jupiter had to become 80 times more massive.

• Saturn

  Saturn is the most distant of the five planets that were known before the invention of the telescope. Like Jupiter, Saturn is made up mostly of hydrogen and helium. Its volume is 755 times that of the Earth. Winds in its atmosphere reach speeds of 500 meters per second. These fast winds, combined with heat rising from the planet's interior, cause the yellow and golden streaks we see in the atmosphere.

• Uranus

  The first planet found with a telescope, Uranus was discovered in 1781 by astronomer William Herschel. The seventh planet is so far from the Sun that one revolution around the Sun takes 84 years.

• Neptune

  Nearly 4.5 billion kilometers from the Sun, distant Neptune rotates. It takes 165 years to complete one revolution around the Sun. It is invisible to the naked eye due to its vast distance from Earth. Interestingly, its unusual elliptical orbit intersects with the orbit of the dwarf planet Pluto, which is why Pluto is inside Neptune's orbit for about 20 out of 248 years during which it makes one revolution around the Sun.

• Pluto

  Tiny, cold and incredibly distant, Pluto was discovered in 1930 and has long been considered the ninth planet. But after the discovery of Pluto-like worlds even further away, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006.

The planets are giants

There are four gas giants located beyond the orbit of Mars: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. They are in the outer solar system. They differ in their massiveness and gas composition.

Planets of the solar system, not to scale

Jupiter

The fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet in our system. Its radius is 69912 km, it is 19 times larger than the Earth and only 10 times smaller than the Sun. A year on Jupiter is not the longest in the solar system, lasting 4333 Earth days (incomplete 12 years). His own day has a duration of about 10 Earth hours. The exact composition of the planet's surface has not yet been determined, but it is known that krypton, argon and xenon are present on Jupiter in much larger quantities than on the Sun.

There is an opinion that one of the four gas giants is actually a failed star. This theory is also supported by the largest number of satellites, of which Jupiter has many - as many as 67. To imagine their behavior in the orbit of the planet, a fairly accurate and clear model of the solar system is needed. The largest of them are Callisto, Ganymede, Io and Europa. At the same time, Ganymede is the largest satellite of the planets in the entire solar system, its radius is 2634 km, which is 8% larger than the size of Mercury, the smallest planet in our system. Io has the distinction of being one of only three moons with an atmosphere.

Saturn

The second largest planet and the sixth largest in the solar system. In comparison with other planets, the composition of chemical elements is most similar to the Sun. The surface radius is 57,350 km, the year is 10,759 days (almost 30 Earth years). A day here lasts a little longer than on Jupiter - 10.5 Earth hours. By the number of satellites, it is not far behind its neighbor - 62 versus 67. The largest satellite of Saturn is Titan, just like Io, which is distinguished by the presence of an atmosphere. Slightly smaller than it, but no less famous for this - Enceladus, Rhea, Dione, Tethys, Iapetus and Mimas. It is these satellites that are the objects for the most frequent observation, and therefore we can say that they are the most studied in comparison with the rest.

For a long time, the rings on Saturn were considered a unique phenomenon, inherent only to him. Only recently it was found that all gas giants have rings, but the rest are not so clearly visible. Their origin has not yet been established, although there are several hypotheses about how they appeared. In addition, it was recently discovered that Rhea, one of the satellites of the sixth planet, also has some kind of rings.

The second planet from the Sun, Venus, is the closest to the Earth and, perhaps, the most beautiful of the terrestrial planets. For thousands of years, she has attracted curious glances from scientists of antiquity and modernity, to mere mortal poets. No wonder she bears the name of the Greek goddess of love. But its study adds questions rather than provides any answers.

One of the first observers, Galileo Galilei, observed Venus with a telescope. With the advent of more powerful optical devices such as telescopes in 1610, people began to note the phases of Venus, which closely resembled the phases of the moon. Venus is one of the brightest luminaries in our sky, so at dusk and in the morning, you can see the planet with the naked eye. Watching its passage in front of the Sun, Mikhailo Lomonosov in 1761 examined a thin iridescent rim that surrounded the planet. This is how the atmosphere was discovered. It turned out to be very powerful: the pressure near the surface reached 90 atmospheres!
The greenhouse effect explains the high temperatures of the lower layers of the atmosphere. It is also present on other planets, for example, on Mars, due to it, the temperature can rise by 9 °, on Earth - up to 35 °, and on Venus - it reaches its maximum, among the planets - up to 480 ° C.

The internal structure of Venus

The structure of Venus, our neighbor, is similar to other planets. It includes the crust, mantle and core. The radius of the liquid core containing a lot of iron is approximately 3200 km. The structure of the mantle - molten substance - is 2800 km, and the thickness of the crust is 20 km. Surprisingly, with such a nucleus, the magnetic field is practically absent. This is most likely due to the slow rotation. The atmosphere of Venus reaches 5500 km, the upper layers of which are almost entirely composed of hydrogen. Back in 1983, the Soviet automatic interplanetary stations (AMS) Venera-15 and Venera-16 discovered mountain peaks with lava flows on Venus. Now the number of volcanic objects reaches 1600 pieces. Volcanic eruptions testify to the activity of the bowels of the planet, which are locked under thick layers of basalt shell.

Rotation around own axis

Most of the planets in the solar system rotate around their axis from west to east. Venus, like Uranus, is an exception to this rule, and rotates in the opposite direction, from east to west. Such non-standard rotation is called retrograde. Thus, a full rotation around its axis lasts 243 days.

Scientists believe that after the formation of Venus, there was a large amount of water on its surface. But, with the advent of the greenhouse effect, the evaporation of the seas began and the release into the atmosphere, which is part of various rocks, carbon dioxide anhydrite. This led to an increase in water evaporation and an increase in temperature in general. After some time, the water disappeared from the surface of Venus and passed into the atmosphere.

Now, the surface of Venus looks like a rocky desert, with occasional mountains and undulating plains. From the oceans, only huge depressions remained on the planet. Radar data taken from interplanetary stations recorded traces of recent volcanic activity.
In addition to the Soviet AMS, the American Magelan also visited Venus. He produced an almost complete mapping of the planet. During the scanning process, a huge number of volcanoes, hundreds of craters and numerous mountains were discovered. According to the characteristic elevations, relative to the average level, scientists have identified 2 continents - the land of Aphrodite and the land of Ishtar. On the first mainland, the size of Africa, there is an 8-kilometer Mount Maat - a huge extinct volcano. The Ishtar mainland is comparable to the size of the United States. Its attraction can be called the 11-kilometer Maxwell Mountains - the highest peaks on the planet. The composition of rocks resembles terrestrial basalt.
In the Venusian landscape, one can find impact craters filled with lava and about 40 km in diameter. But this is an exception, because there are only about 1 thousand of them.

Characteristics of Venus

Weight: 4.87 * 1024 kg (0.815 Earth)
Diameter at equator: 12102 km
Axis Tilt: 177.36°
Density: 5.24 g/cm3
Average surface temperature: +465 °C
Period of revolution around the axis (day): 244 days (retrograde)
Distance from the Sun (average): 0.72 AU e. or 108 million km
Orbital period around the Sun (year): 225 days
Orbital speed: 35 km/s
Orbital eccentricity: e = 0.0068
Orbital inclination to the ecliptic: i = 3.86°
Free fall acceleration: 8.87m/s2
Atmosphere: carbon dioxide (96%), nitrogen (3.4%)
Satellites: no

Planet Venus interesting facts. Some you may already know, others should be completely new to you. So read and learn new interesting facts about the "morning star".

Earth and Venus are very similar in size and mass, and they orbit the Sun in very similar orbits. Its size is only 650 km smaller than the size of the Earth, and the mass is 81.5% of the mass of the Earth.

But that's where the similarity ends. The atmosphere is made up of 96.5% carbon dioxide, and the greenhouse effect raises the temperature to 461°C.

2. A planet can be so bright that it casts shadows.

Only the Sun and Moon are brighter than Venus. Its brightness can vary from -3.8 to -4.6 magnitudes, but it is always brighter than the brightest stars in the sky.

3. Hostile atmosphere

The mass of the atmosphere is 93 times greater than the Earth's atmosphere. The pressure on the surface is 92 times greater than the pressure on Earth. It is also like diving a kilometer under the surface of the ocean.

4. It rotates in the opposite direction compared to other planets.

Venus rotates very slowly, a day is 243 Earth days. Even stranger is that it rotates in the opposite direction compared to all other planets in the solar system. All planets rotate in a counter-clockwise direction. Except for the heroine of our article. It rotates clockwise.

5. Many spacecraft have managed to land on its surface.

In the midst of the space race, the Soviet Union launched a series of Venus spacecraft and some successfully landed on its surface.

Venera 8 was the first spacecraft to land on the surface and transmit photographs to Earth.

6. People used to think that there are "tropics" on the second planet from the Sun.

While we sent the first spacecraft to study Venus from close range, no one really knew what was hidden below the dense clouds of the planet. Science fiction writers dreamed of lush tropical jungles. The hellish temperature and dense atmosphere surprised everyone.

7. The planet has no satellites.

Venus looks like our twin. Unlike Earth, it has no moons. Mars has moons, and even Pluto has moons. But she... no.

8. The planet has phases.

Although it looks like a very bright star in the sky, if you can look at it with a telescope, you will see something different. When looking at it through a telescope, you can see that the planet goes through phases like the moon. When it is closer, it looks like a thin crescent. And at the maximum distance from the Earth, it becomes dim and in the form of a circle.

9. There are very few craters on its surface.

While the surfaces of Mercury, Mars, and the Moon are littered with impact craters, there are relatively few craters on the surface of Venus. Planetary scientists believe that its surface is only 500 million years old. Constant volcanic activity smoothes and removes any impact craters.

10. The last ship to explore Venus is the Venus Express.