Astronomy

1. VENUS

2. VITAL STATISTICS

3. Diameter 12,104 km
Mass 4.8 x 1021 t
Mean density 5.25
Rotation period 243 Earth days
Revolution period (Venusian
year)
224 Earth days
Length of a solar day 117 Earth days
Surface gravity 8.87 m/s2
Natural satellites none
Ring system none
Orbit
Aphelion 109 million km
Perihelion 107 million km
Furthest distance from Earth 261 million km

4. BASIC INFORMATION
Venus, the second planet from the sun, is
named for the Roman goddess of love and
beauty.
Venus and Earth are often called twins
because they are almost similar in size,
mass, density, composition and gravity.

5. Venus is one of the terrestrial planets --
those with solid, rocky surfaces inhabiting
the inner part of our solar system.
Its axis is nearly vertical and its orbit is
nearly circular so Venus does not
experience seasons the way Earth and
Mars do because of their more tilted axes
and more elliptical orbits.
BASIC INFORMATION

6. A day on Venus lasts
243 Earth days
(that's how long it
takes Venus to make
one rotation), while a
year on Venus (its
revolution period
around the sun) is
shorter, at just
224.7 Earth days.
BASIC INFORMATION

7. CAN LIFE EXIST IN VENUS?
NO!
Venus is the hottest world in the solar
system.
It has coronae, or crowns — ring like
structures that range from roughly 95 to
360 miles (155 to 580 km) wide.
BASIC INFORMATION

8. The air pressure on the surface of Venus
is extreme — about 90 times higher than
the pressure at sea level here on Earth.
In other words, the pressure on Venus is
about the same as the water pressure on
Earth about half a mile (1 km) under the
ocean.
BASIC INFORMATION

9. There are more
volcanoes on
Venus than on
any other planet
in the solar
system.
BASIC INFORMATION

10. It also lacks a magnetic field and a
satellite.
Venus has a hellish atmosphere as well,
consisting mainly of carbon dioxide with
clouds of sulfuric acid, and scientists have
only detected trace amounts of water in
the atmosphere.
BASIC INFORMATION

11. Except for the Sun and the Moon, Venus
is the brightest object in the sky.
It is often called the morning star when
it appears in the east at sunrise, and the
evening star when it is in the west at
sunset.
BASIC INFORMATION

12. In ancient
times the
evening star
was called
Hesperus and
the morning
star
Phosphorus,
Eosphoros, or
Lucifer.
BASIC INFORMATION

13. Venus passes
between the
Earth and the
Sun, the planet
appears to
have phases
like the moon.
BASIC INFORMATION

14. Venus is rare
among the planets
in that we can see
it cross in front of
the sun. Only Venus
and Mercury do
this from the
vantage point of
Earth.
BASIC INFORMATION

15. MOTIONS

16. MOTIONS
Venus circles the
Sun once every
224.7 days in a
counterclockwise
direction, the
same direction
as the other
planets in the
solar system.

17. MOTIONS
Venus rotates on
its axis the
opposite way that
most planets
rotate. That means
on Venus, the sun
would appear to
rise in the west
and set in the east.
On Earth, the sun
appears to rise in
the east and set in
the west.

18. MAGNETIC FIELD AND
TENUOUS ATMOSPHERE

19. MAGNETIC FIELD AND TENUOUS
ATMOSPHERE
Venus is a rarity among planets - a
world that does not internally
generate a magnetic field.
WHY??

20. In part because of its slow rotation
(243 days) and its predicted lack of
internal thermal convection, any
liquid metallic portion of its core
could not be rotating fast enough to
generate a measurable global
magnetic field.
MAGNETIC FIELD AND TENUOUS
ATMOSPHERE

21. Despite the absence of a large protective
magnetosphere, the near-Venus
environment does exhibit a number of
similarities with planets such as Earth. The
latest, surprising, example is the evidence
for magnetic reconnection in Venus'
induced magnetotail.
MAGNETIC FIELD AND TENUOUS
ATMOSPHERE

22. VENUS’ ATMOSPHERE

23. EXTERIOR AND
INTERIOR
TRAITS

24. EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR
TRAITS

25. RESEARCH
AND
EXPLORATIONS

26. RESEARCH AND EXPLORATIONS
1962: NASA's Mariner 2 came within
21,600 miles (34,760 km) of Venus,
making it the first planet to be observed
by a passing spacecraft.
1967: Mariner 5
1974: Mariner 10

27. Vega 1 and 2, sent toward Halley’s comet
in 1984, also flew by Venus and released
descent capsules. Several of these
probes successfully reached the planet’s
surface.
1978: Pioneer Venus 2 sent four probes
to the surface, while the remaining craft
explored the upper atmosphere.
RESEARCH AND EXPLORATIONS

28. 1978: Pioneer Venus 1, an orbiter,
measured the upper atmosphere for 14
years.
The Magellan probe, launched toward
Venus in 1989, transmitted radar images
of the planet from 1990 to 1994.
RESEARCH AND EXPLORATIONS

29. 2005 the European Space Agency (ESA)
launched the Venus Express spacecraft
on a mission to Venus. It is equipped with
instruments designed to study the
structure, chemistry, and dynamics of
the planet’s atmosphere, particularly its
hurricane-force winds and its cloud
system.

30. The Venus Express also carried the
first infrared instrument designed
to study the planet’s surface at
infrared wavelengths, making it
possible to detect active volcanoes if
they exist.

31. TRIVIAS

32. TRIVIA
Global warming on Venus has caused the
surface temperature to rise to nearly
9000 F, enough to melt lead.

33. • Winds swipe across
Venus at super-fast
speeds that can reach
450 miles an hour
(724 kph) in its middle
cloud layer. These
Venusian winds are
faster than the
speediest tornado on
Earth.
TRIVIA

34. TRIVIA
It's often mistaken for a UFO

35. TRIVIA
Its features are feminine
 Devana Chasma (canyons), named for the
Czechoslovakian goddess of hunting; Chondi
Chasma, named for the Bengali goddess of
wild animals
Copacati Mons (mountain), named after the
Inca lake goddess.
The irregularly shaped craters, called
patera, were named after famous women,
including Bers Patera (named for Leo
Tolstoy's wife Sofya Andreyevna Bers) and
Keller Patera (named for blind and deaf
American writer Helen Keller)

36. SOURCES:
• http://www.space.com/44-venus-second-planet-from-the-
sun-brightest-planet-in-solar-system.html
• http://space.about.com/od/venus/a/Venus.htm
• http://www.space.com/15988-venus-planet-weird-facts.html
• http://sci.esa.int/venus-express/50246-a-magnetic-surprise-
for-venus-express/
• http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/venus/V3.html
• Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft
Corporation. All rights reserved.
• http://www.livescience.com/20754-transit-trivia-5-odd-facts-
venus.html