Planet venus short description for kids. Planet Venus: a possible shelter or immediate danger Planet Venus main characteristics

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.

Every student knows about the existence of the planet Venus in the solar system. Not everyone will remember that it is the closest to the Earth and the second from the Sun. Well, only a few will be able to name more or less accurately the period of revolution of Venus around the Sun. Let's try to close this knowledge gap.

Venus - the planet of paradoxes

It's worth starting with a brief description of the planet. Closer to the Sun in our system is only Mercury. But it is Venus that is closest to the Earth - at some moments the distance between them is only 42 million kilometers. By space standards, this is quite a bit.

Yes, and in size, the neighboring planets are quite similar - the length of the equator of Venus is 95% of the same indicator for the Earth.

But in the rest, continuous differences begin. To begin with, Venus is the only planet in the solar system that has a reverse or retrograde rotation around its axis. That is, the Sun here does not rise in the east and sets in the west, as on all other planets, but vice versa. Very unusual and unusual!

Length of the year

Now let's talk about the period of revolution of Venus around the Sun - it is almost 225 days, or, more precisely, 224.7. Yes, that's how long it takes the planet to make a complete revolution around the sun - 140 days more than it takes the Earth. No wonder - the farther the planet is from the Sun, the longer the year there.

But the speed of the planet in space is quite high - 35 kilometers per second! In one hour it travels 126,000 kilometers. Just imagine the distance that it travels in a year, given the sidereal period of Venus' revolution around the Sun!

When the day is longer than the year

Speaking about the period for which Venus makes a complete revolution around the nearest star, it is worth noting its period of revolution around its own axis, that is, a day.

This period is really impressive. It takes the planet 243 days to make just one revolution around its axis. Just imagine these days - longer than a year!

It is because of this that the inhabitants of Venus, if they existed there (the existence of at least some life is very doubtful because of the features that we will talk about a little later), would find themselves in an unusual position.

The fact is that on Earth the change of time of day occurs due to the rotation of the planet around its axis. Still, a day here lasts 24 hours, and a year is more than 365 days. On Venus, the opposite is true. Here, the time of day depends more on exactly where the planet is in its orbit. Yes, this is what affects which parts of the planet will be illuminated by a hot star, and which will remain in the shade. Because of this state of affairs, it would be very difficult to live by the clock here - midnight would sometimes fall in the morning or evening, and at noon the sun would not always be at its zenith.

Unfriendly planet

Now you know what is the period of revolution of the planet Venus around the Sun. You can tell more about her.

Over the years, science fiction writers, relying on scientists' assertion that Venus is almost the size of Earth, have inhabited it in their works with a variety of creatures. Alas, in the middle of the twentieth century, all these fantasies collapsed. The latest data have proven that at least something can hardly survive here.

Start at least with the winds. Even the most monstrous hurricanes of the Earth will seem like a light pleasant breeze in comparison. The speed of the hurricane is about 33 meters per second. And on Venus, almost without stopping, the wind blows up to 100 meters per second! Not a single terrestrial object would have resisted such pressure.

The atmosphere is also not very rosy. It is completely unsuitable for breathing, as it consists of 97% carbon dioxide. Oxygen is either absent here, or present in the smallest volume. Besides, the pressure here is simply monstrous. On the surface of the planet, the density of the atmosphere is approximately 67 kg per cubic meter. Because of this, stepping on Venus, a person would immediately feel (if he had time) the same pressure as in the sea at a depth of almost a kilometer!

And the temperature here is absolutely not conducive to a pleasant pastime. During the day, the surface of the planet and the air warms up to about 467 degrees Celsius. This is much more than the temperature of Mercury, the distance from which to the Sun is half that from Venus! This is easily explained by the extremely dense atmosphere and the greenhouse effect created by the high concentration of carbon dioxide. On Mercury, the heat from the hot surface simply evaporates into outer space. Here, the dense atmosphere simply does not allow him to leave, which leads to such extreme indicators. Even at night, which lasts four Earth months, it becomes only 1-2 degrees cooler here. And all because of the fact that greenhouse gases do not allow heat to escape.

Conclusion

This is where the article can end. Now you know the period of revolution of Venus around the Sun, as well as other features of this amazing planet. Surely this will significantly expand your horizons in the field of astronomy.

The second in the solar system, the brightest planet in the sky after the Sun and the Moon, Venus is a muse for numerous poets and romantics. And also one of the favorite objects for observation among space explorers.

The surface of Venus is difficult to study due to thick acid clouds in its atmosphere. Such an opportunity appeared only after the invention of spacecraft and the most powerful radio telescopes, which were able to show what Venus looks like and collect the most accurate, interesting information about this amazing object.

Discovery history

The brightness of Venus made it one of the most studied celestial bodies by ancient astronomers. Sumerian astronomical tables and Mayan calendars have come down to us, which describe the full cycle of its movement.

The ancient Romans identified the star with the goddess of love (among the Greeks - Aphrodite) for its bright, beautiful white glow in the morning and evening sky. At the same time, for a long time it was believed that the Morning and Evening stars are different celestial bodies. Only Pythagoras was able to prove the opposite, so it is believed that it was he who discovered the planet Venus.

The history of the discovery of Venus was not without Galileo Galilei. He was the first to observe it through a telescope and established the order of the change of Venusian phases. The atmosphere on the planet was discovered in 1761 by Mikhail Lomonosov, but it was impossible to study its surface for a long time.

Intensive research on Venus began with the advent of radio telescopes and space probes. 28 Soviet and American vehicles were successfully sent in this direction to study its atmosphere and surface. They transmitted panoramic images to astronomers, but none of the probes that managed to reach the Venusian surface could survive in its harsh conditions for more than 2 hours. The latest spacecraft launched to Venus are the Venera Express of the European Space Agency, as well as the Akatsuki of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

In the near future, Roskosmos plans to launch an interplanetary station with an orbiting satellite and descent modules, which will make it possible to study the Venusian atmosphere. In addition to the station to study the surface, a probe will be sent in this direction, capable of operating in its harsh conditions for about 4 weeks.

Features, orbit and radius

The orbital path has a low eccentricity and is the most circular among the planetary objects of the solar system. The average radius of the orbit of Venus is 109 million kilometers. It completes a full revolution along the orbital path in 224.6 Earth days, moving at an average speed of 34.9 km / s.

A feature of Venus is that it rotates in the opposite direction for most bodies - from east to west. The most likely reason for this phenomenon is a collision with a large asteroid that changed the direction of its movement.

The Venusian day is the longest in the whole - 243 Earth days. It turns out that the year here lasts less than one full day.

Physico-chemical characteristics

In terms of its physical parameters, the second planet is close to the Earth. Its radius is 6052 km, which is 85% of the earth's. Mass - 4.9 * 10 24, and the average density value - 5.25 g / cu. see The high density and chemical composition of Venus classify it as an Earth-like object. Unlike gas giants, they are solid and composed of heavy elements.

What is Venus made of? Its surface is solidified lava rocks, rich in chemical composition of silicates, aluminum and iron. The crust goes only 50 km deep, continuing into a massive silicate mantle several thousand kilometers thick. The heart of Venus is an iron-nickel core, occupying a quarter of its diameter.

The Venusian landscape has long remained a mystery, which could only be solved by orbiting satellites that sent reliable images of the Venusian relief to Earth. Plains, which are giant layers of hardened lava from basalt rocks, occupy most of the planet's surface. Next to them are ancient, but still active volcanoes, arachnoids and deep craters.

Temperature on Venus

The second planet from the Sun is the hottest planet in our system. The average temperature at the surface of Venus is approaching 470 degrees Celsius. At the same time, during the day, temperature fluctuations are extremely small.

Why is the temperature on Venus so high? The heating of the Venusian surface is explained not so much by the proximity of the Sun, but by a dense atmosphere, consisting mainly of carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid. Under such conditions, a greenhouse effect occurs - carbon dioxide absorbs infrared radiation reflected from the ground, preventing it from passing back into outer space. At the same time, the lower layers of the atmosphere are heated to an extremely high value.

The minimum temperature on Venus can be registered in the thermosphere zone, which is more than 120 km away from it. At night, the temperature here drops to -170°C, and during the day it reaches a maximum of 120°C. The harsh climate is also determined by the winds. There is practically no wind in the lower layers, but at the level of the troposphere, the atmosphere turns into a giant hurricane with a wind speed of more than 359 km / h. Thunderstorms and lightning are constantly raging here, as well as acid rain. But it evaporates before reaching the surface, and turns into concentrated acid fumes.

Atmosphere

The closest part of the Venusian atmosphere to the surface - the troposphere - is an ocean of carbon dioxide in the state of a supercrystalline liquid. Its high density creates a hotbed near the surface, heating Venus more than any other body in the solar system.

At a level of 50-65 km above the surface in the layers of the tropopause, the temperature and pressure of the atmosphere approach the earth's values. The minimum indicators of temperature and pressure are recorded within 200 km above the surface.

The main components of the Venusian atmosphere are semi-liquid CO 2 (over 96%) and nitrogen (3.5%). The rest is inert gases, sulfur dioxide and water vapor. An extremely thin layer of ozone is located at a level of 100 km from the surface of the planet.

• It is the closest planetary neighbor of the Earth. The distance between the bodies does not exceed 42 million kilometers.
• Venus is the brightest celestial body after the Moon and the Sun, observed from the Earth. You can see it even during the day, but it is best to watch it against the background of morning and evening twilight.
• The crust of the planet is quite young - it is only about 500 million years old. This is confirmed by the extremely small number of impact craters.
• Most fragments of the Venusian relief bear the names and surnames of women. The only "male" detail of the relief is the highest mountain range, which got its name in honor of the British physicist and space explorer James Maxwell.
• Deep Venusian craters got their names in honor of the names of famous women (Akhmatova, Barto, Mukhina, Golubkina, etc.), and small ones - in honor of female names. The heights of the relief are named after goddesses from different mythologies, and the canyons, furrows and lines are named after the tin of warlike women and characters from fairy tales and myths.
• For a long time it was believed that the Venusian climate is similar to the terrestrial tropics, and life on the planet is a kind of Mesozoic on Earth. But a detailed study of its atmosphere showed that the origin of life in such harsh conditions is impossible.
• The planet has no magnetic field. Its magnetosphere is induced.
• Venus and are the only planetary bodies in our system that do not have natural satellites. But some current theories suggest that it may have previously had its own moon, which collapsed before the appearance of astronomical observations on Earth. According to another theory, Mercury was once a natural satellite of Venus.
• The planet has a high reflectivity (albedo), so on a moonless night it casts a shadow on the Earth.

Venus is the second planet from the sun in the solar system, named after the Roman goddess of love. It is one of the brightest objects on the celestial sphere, the "morning star" that appears in the sky at dawn and dusk. Venus is similar to Earth in many ways, but not at all as friendly as it seems from afar. The conditions on it are completely unsuitable for the emergence of life. The surface of the planet is hidden from us by an atmosphere of carbon dioxide and clouds of sulfuric acid, which create the strongest greenhouse effect. The opacity of the clouds does not allow us to study Venus in detail, therefore it still remains one of the most mysterious planets for us.

a brief description of

Venus revolves around the Sun at a distance of 108 million km, and this value is almost constant, since the planet's orbit is almost perfectly circular. At the same time, the distance to the Earth changes significantly - from 38 to 261 million km. The radius of Venus is on average 6052 km, the density is 5.24 g / cm³ (dense than the earth). The mass is equal to 82% of the mass of the Earth - 5 10 24 kg. The acceleration of gravity is also close to the earth's - 8.87 m / s². Venus has no satellites, but until the 18th century, repeated attempts were made to search for them, which were unsuccessful.

The planet makes a full circle in orbit in 225 days, and the day on Venus is the longest in the entire solar system: they last as much as 243 days, longer than the Venusian year. Venus moves in orbit at a speed of 35 km/s. The inclination of the orbit to the plane of the ecliptic is quite significant - 3.4 degrees. The axis of rotation is almost perpendicular to the plane of the orbit, due to which the northern and southern hemispheres are illuminated by the Sun almost equally, and there is no change of seasons on the planet. Another feature of Venus is that the directions of its rotation and circulation do not coincide, unlike other planets. It is assumed that this is due to a powerful collision with a large celestial body that changed the orientation of the axis of rotation.

Venus is classified as a terrestrial planet, and is also called the sister of the Earth because of the similarity in size, mass and composition. But the conditions on Venus can hardly be called similar to those on Earth. Its atmosphere, composed mainly of carbon dioxide, is the densest of all planets of the same type. Atmospheric pressure is 92 times greater than the earth's. Thick clouds of sulfuric acid envelop the surface. For visible radiation, they are opaque, even from artificial satellites, which for a long time made it difficult to see what was under them. Only radar methods for the first time made it possible to study the relief of the planet, since the Venusian clouds turned out to be transparent to radio waves. It was found that there are many traces of volcanic activity on the surface of Venus, but no active volcanoes were found. There are very few craters, which speaks of the "youth" of the planet: its age is about 500 million years.

Education

Venus is very different from other planets in the solar system in terms of its conditions and features of movement. And it is still impossible to answer the question, what is the reason for such uniqueness. First of all, whether it is the result of natural evolution or geochemical processes due to proximity to the Sun.

According to a single hypothesis of the origin of the planets in our system, they all arose from a giant protoplanetary nebula. Due to this, the composition of all atmospheres was the same for a long time. After some time, only the cold giant planets were able to retain the most common elements - hydrogen and helium. From the planets closer to the Sun, these substances were actually "blown away" into outer space, and heavier elements - metals, oxides and sulfides - entered their composition. The atmospheres of the planets were formed primarily due to volcanic activity, and their initial composition depended on the composition of volcanic gases in the depths.

Atmosphere

Venus has a very powerful atmosphere that hides its surface from direct observation. Most of it consists of carbon dioxide (96%), 3% is nitrogen, and even less other substances - argon, water vapor and others. In addition, clouds of sulfuric acid are present in a large volume in the atmosphere, and it is they that make it opaque to visible light, but infrared, microwave and radio radiation pass through them. The atmosphere of Venus is 90 times more massive than Earth's, and also much hotter - its temperature is 740 K. The reason for this heating (more than on the surface of Mercury, which is closer to the Sun) lies in the greenhouse effect that occurs due to the high density of carbon dioxide - the main component atmosphere. The height of the Venusian atmosphere is about 250-350 km.

The atmosphere of Venus constantly and very rapidly circulates and rotates. Its rotation period is many times less than that of the planet itself - only 4 days. The wind speed is also huge - about 100 m / s in the upper layers, which is much more than on Earth. However, at low altitudes, the movement of winds is significantly weakened and reaches only about 1 m/s. Powerful anticyclones are formed at the poles of the planet - polar vortices having an S-shape.

Like the earth, the Venusian atmosphere consists of several layers. The lower layer - the troposphere - is the densest (99% of the total mass of the atmosphere) and extends to an average height of 65 km. Due to the high surface temperature, the lower part of this layer is the hottest in the atmosphere. The wind speed here is also low, but with increasing altitude it increases, while the temperature and pressure decrease, and at an altitude of about 50 km they are already approaching the earth's values. It is in the troposphere that the greatest circulation of clouds and winds is observed, and weather phenomena are observed - whirlwinds, hurricanes rushing at great speed, and even lightning that strikes here twice as often as on Earth.

Between the troposphere and the next layer - the mesosphere - there is a thin boundary - the tropopause. Here the conditions are most similar to those on the earth's surface: the temperature is from 20 to 37 ° C, and the pressure is approximately the same as at sea level.

The mesosphere occupies heights from 65 to 120 km. Its lower part has an almost constant temperature of 230 K. At an altitude of about 73 km, a cloud layer begins, and here the temperature of the mesosphere gradually decreases with a height of up to 165 K. At about an altitude of 95 km, the mesopause begins, and here the atmosphere again begins to heat up to values ​​of the order of 300 400 K. The temperature is the same for the overlying thermosphere, which extends to the upper boundaries of the atmosphere. It should be noted that, depending on the illumination of the surface of the planet by the Sun, the temperatures of the layers on the day and night sides differ significantly: for example, daytime values ​​for the thermosphere are about 300 K, and nighttime values ​​are only about 100 K. In addition, Venus also has an extended ionosphere at altitudes 100 - 300 km.

At an altitude of 100 km in the atmosphere of Venus there is an ozone layer. The mechanism of its formation is similar to that of the earth.

There is no intrinsic magnetic field on Venus, but there is an induced magnetosphere formed by streams of ionized particles of the solar wind, bringing with them the magnetic field of the star, frozen into the coronal matter. The lines of force of the induced magnetic field, as it were, flow around the planet. But due to the absence of its own field, the solar wind freely penetrates into its atmosphere, provoking its outflow through the magnetospheric tail.

The dense and opaque atmosphere practically does not allow sunlight to reach the surface of Venus, so its illumination is very low.

Structure

Photo from an interplanetary spacecraft

Information about the relief and internal structure of Venus has become available relatively recently thanks to the development of radar. Surveys of the planet in the radio range made it possible to create a map of its surface. It is known that more than 80% of the surface is filled with basaltic lava, and this suggests that the modern relief of Venus is formed mainly by volcanic eruptions. Indeed, there are a lot of volcanoes on the surface of the planet, especially small ones, with a diameter of about 20 kilometers and a height of 1.5 km. Whether any of them are active, at the moment it is impossible to say. There are much fewer craters on Venus than on other terrestrial planets, since the dense atmosphere prevents most celestial bodies from penetrating through it. In addition, spacecraft have discovered hills up to 11 km high on the surface of Venus, occupying about 10% of the entire area.

A single model of the internal structure of Venus has not been developed to this day. According to the most probable of them, the planet consists of a thin crust (about 15 km), a mantle more than 3000 km thick and a massive iron-nickel core in the center. The absence of a magnetic field on Venus can be explained by the absence of moving charged particles in the core. This means that the core of the planet is solid, since there is no movement of matter in it.

Observation

Since of all the planets Venus comes closest to the Earth and is therefore the most visible in the sky, it will not be difficult to observe it. It is visible to the naked eye even in the daytime, but at night or at dusk, Venus appears before the eyes as the brightest "star" in the celestial sphere with a magnitude of -4.4 m. Thanks to such an impressive brightness, the planet can be observed through a telescope even during the day.

Like Mercury, Venus does not move far from the Sun. The maximum angle of its deviation is 47 °. It is most convenient to observe it shortly before sunrise or immediately after sunset, when the Sun is still below the horizon and does not interfere with observation with its bright light, and the sky is still not dark enough for the planet to shine too brightly. Since the details on the disk of Venus are barely perceptible during observations, it is necessary to use a high-quality telescope. And even in it, most likely, only a grayish circle without any details. However, under good conditions and high-quality equipment, sometimes you can still see dark bizarre shapes and white spots formed by atmospheric clouds. Binoculars are useful only for finding Venus in the sky and its simplest observations.

The atmosphere on Venus was discovered by M.V. Lomonosov during its passage across the solar disk in 1761.

Venus, like the Moon and Mercury, has phases. This is due to the fact that its orbit is closer to the Sun than the Earth's, and therefore, when the planet is between the Earth and the Sun, only part of its disk is visible.

The tropopause zone in the atmosphere of Venus, due to conditions similar to those on Earth, is being considered for placement of research stations there and even for colonization.

Venus has no satellites, but for a long time there was a hypothesis according to which it was previously Mercury, but due to some external catastrophic impact, it left its gravitational field and became an independent planet. In addition, Venus has a quasi-satellite - an asteroid whose orbit of rotation around the Sun is such that it does not get out of the influence of the planet for a long time.

In June 2012, the last transit of Venus across the solar disk in this century took place, which was completely observed in the Pacific Ocean and almost throughout Russia. The last passage was observed in 2004, and earlier ones in the 19th century.

Because of the many similarities to our planet, life on Venus was considered possible for a long time. But since it became known about the composition of its atmosphere, the greenhouse effect and other climatic conditions, it is obvious that such terrestrial life on this planet is impossible.

Venus is one of the candidates for terraforming - changing the climate, temperature and other conditions on the planet in order to make it habitable for terrestrial organisms. First of all, for this it will be necessary to deliver enough water to Venus to start the process of photosynthesis. It is also necessary to make the temperature on the surface significantly lower. To do this, it is necessary to negate the greenhouse effect by converting carbon dioxide into oxygen, which could be handled by cyanobacteria, which would need to be sprayed into the atmosphere.

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

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