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Venus is the second closest planet to the Sun. It is often referred to as Earth's sister planet due to its similar structure, size and mass.
Although Venus is not the closest planet to the Sun (in which the title goes to Mercury), it is in fact the hottest. This is because Venus has a thick and dense atmosphere of carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid. Under the atmosphere, the temperature rises up to 475 degrees Celsius, and the pressure is equal to 92 bars.
The compounds in Venus' atmosphere are capable of reflecting light efficiently. This allows Venus to reflect back most of the light from the Sun it receives. This is also the reason Venus looks so bright in the night sky (The second brightest object after the Moon).
Formation
Venus was formed from accretion during the formation of the inner Solar System about 4.54 billion years ago. It had more intense volcanic activity than any other planets, although it didn't suffer a heavy bombardment period like Earth.
About 3.9 billion years ago to 715 million years ago, Venus could've also had water in liquid phase, a stable atmosphere and orbited in the habitable zone. This means that Venus also could have supported lifeforms similar to Earth's, like in multicellular structure or a carbon-based biochemistry.
Atmosphere
Venus' atmosphere is mostly made of carbon dioxide which heats the atmosphere. This causes the greenhouse effect, which makes Venus the hottest planet in the Solar System. Due to the combination of gases, Venus rains sulfuric acid from the atmosphere, which can also ignite many lava oceans, sending gases into the air, contributing to the density of the atmosphere. Due to the dense atmosphere, Venus' atmospheric pressure is more than ninety times that of Earth, contributing to a large amount of rock formation of the surface and no carbon cycle.
Venus's atmosphere is 96.5 percent carbon dioxide, which contributes to a lot of the heating of Venus. The rest is made up of 3.5 percent nitrogen. Other trace gases include neon, helium, carbon monoxide, etc.
There are also traces of phosphine inside Venus's clouds, which is only formed by living organisms. However, scientists hypothesized that there might be bacteria living in the clouds of Venus where the temperature is similar to Earth's.
Surface Features
Many surface features are found on the surface of Venus, including volcanoes, rivers filled with lava, and many other features that contribute to the heating, the denseness of the atmosphere, and many other factors. Volcanic plains are common on the surface, which also contribute to the amount of sulfur located in the atmosphere. Few impact craters are located on the ground, for due to the thick atmosphere, very few comets and asteroids have collided with Venus. The atmosphere stopped these asteroids very well, however, for the impact craters are no more in diameter than three miles.
Trivia
- Venus most likely had liquid water 3.9 billion years to 715 million years ago and was the first planet in the Solar System to have had actually supported life, even before Earth and Mars.
- In 7.5 billion years, Venus' dense atmosphere will be blown away by strong solar winds, and it will eventually be violently engulfed by the Red Giant Sun, although it has a 20% chance of surviving the first red phase.
- Venus is the best planet for colonization and terraforming, because Venus is very similar to Earth. While Mars has the low gravity of 0.3794 G and violent dust storms.
- However, what makes colonizing Venus more of a challenge is its temperature and atmospheric pressure. Its mean temperature is over about 464°C,[1] which is hot enough to melt lead. The atmospheric pressure is 92 times greater than Earth's, which is the equivalent to the pressure experienced under a kilometer of water.
- It is possible to build floating colonies above the clouds of the planet, such as aerostat habitats.[2] At an altitude of 50 kilometers above the surface, the pressure would be approximately 1 Atm, with the temperatures ranging from 0°C to 50°C. In addition, protection against cosmic radiation would be provided by the atmosphere above, with the shielding mass equivalent to Earth's.[3]
Gallery
See Also
| Exploration of Venus | ||
|---|---|---|
| Past | Success | Akatsuki • Mariner 2 • Venera 4 • Mariner 5 • Venera 5 • Venera 6 • Venera 8 • Mariner 10 • Venera 9 • Venera 10 • Pioneer Venus 1 • Pioneer Venus 2 • Venera 13 • Venera 14 • Venera 15 • Venera 16 • Vega 2 • Magellan • IKAROS • Venus Express |
| Partial | Venera 7 • Venera 11 • Venera 12 • Vega 1 | |
| Faliure | Tyazhely Sputnik • Mariner 1 • 2MV-1 (1) • 2MV-1 (2) • 2MV-2 (1) • 3MV-1 (2) • Kosmos 96 • Kosmos 167 • Kosmos 359 • Kosmos 482 • Venera 1 • Zond 1 • Venera 2 • Venera 3 • Shin'en | |
| Flyby | Galileo • Cassini • MESSENGER • BepiColombo • Parker Solar Probe • Solar Orbiter | |
| Proposed | Venus Life Finder • MBR Explorer • Venus Orbiter Mission • VERITAS • DAVINCI • EnVision • VOICE • HAVOC | |
| Canceled | EVE | |
| Geology of Venus | |
|---|---|
| Regions | Alpha Regio • Asteria Regio • Beta Regio • Ovda Regio |
| Terrae | Aphrodite Terra • Ishtar Terra • Lada Terra |
| Mountains and volcanos | Abeona Mons • Akna Montes • Anala Mons • Artemis Corona • Baʽhet Corona • Boala Corona • Ciuacoatl Mons • Fand Mons • Fotla Corona • Gula Mons • Heng-o Corona • Iaso Tholus • Idunn Mons • Irnini Mons • Jaszai Patera • Maat Mons • Maxwell Montes • Nightingale Corona • Onatah Corona • Ozza Mons • Pavlova Corona • Quetzalpetlatl Corona • Pancake dome • Renpet Mons • Sacajawea Patera • Sachs Patera • Sapas Mons • Santa Corona • Scalloped margin dome • Siddons Patera • Sif Mons • Skadi Mons • Theia Mons • Ushas Mons • Zisa Corona |
| Plains and plateaus | Guinevere Planitia • Lakshmi Planum • Sedna Planitia |
| Canyons and valleys | Aikhulu Chasma • Artemis Chasma • Baltis Vallis • Dali Chasma • Devana Chasma • Diana Chasma • Ganis Chasma |
| Craters | Addams • Adivar • Agnesi • Alcott • Ariadne • Aurelia • Balch • Barton • Buck • Cleopatra • Cunitz • Danilova • De Lalande • Dickenson • Goeppert-Mayor • Golubkina • Grimke • Gregory • Guilbert • Isabella • JeanneMaria Celeste • Mariko • Mead • Meitner • Merit Ptah • Mona Lisa • Nanichi • Riley • Ruth • Stefania • Wanda • Wheatley • Yablochkina |
| The Planets and Dwarf Planets | |
|---|---|
| Planets | |
| Inner: (Mercury • Venus • Earth • Mars) Outer: (Jupiter • Saturn • Uranus • Neptune) | |
| Dwarf Planets (and candidates) | |
| Ceres • Pluto • Haumea • Makemake • Quaoar • Orcus • Eris • Gonggong • Sedna | |
References
- ↑ Venus Fact Sheet | NASA
- ↑ Colonization of Venus | AIP Publishing
- ↑ Colonizing Venus With Floating Cities | Universe Today