Search results
At its nearest to Earth, Venus is about 24 million (about 38 million kilometers) away. But most of the time the two planets are farther apart. The maximum distance between Venus and Earth is about 162 million miles (261 million kilometers). Mercury, the innermost planet, actually spends more time in Earth’s proximity than Venus.
Jan 11, 2024 · Venus Observational Parameters Discoverer: Unknown Discovery Date: Prehistoric Distance from Earth Minimum (10 6 km) 38.2 Maximum (10 6 km) 261.0 Apparent diameter from Earth Maximum (seconds of arc) 66.1 Minimum (seconds of arc) 9.7 Maximum visual magnitude -4.8 Mean values at inferior conjunction with Earth Distance from Earth (10 6 km) 41.39 Apparent diameter (seconds of arc) 60.0
Apr 29, 2021 · The effect is much more dramatic on Venus because the atmosphere is roughly 93 times as massive as Earth’s, and so it has a lot more momentum to trade. The UCLA-led team also reports that Venus tips to one side by precisely 2.6392 degrees (Earth is tilted by about 23 degrees), an improvement on the precision of previous estimates by a factor of 10.
- About Venus
- Temperature and Atmosphere
- The Exploration of Venus
Formation
Like all the other planets, Venus was likely formed in the large cloud of gas, dust, and ice of the ancient solar system, which collapsed into a spinning disc. Our Sun was born at its centre, and the planets were created about 4.5 billion years ago from particles sticking together along rings in the disc. Venus is the second closest planet to the Sun and is often called Earth's "sister planet" or "twin planet."Venus and Earth have very similar sizes, masses, and compositions, but are otherwis...
Orbit and rotation
Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise; all the other planets rotate counter-clockwise. Venus's rotation is called retrograde rotation. One day on Venus – the time it takes the planet to complete a full rotation on its axis – is equal to 243 days on Earth. That is actually slower than the time it takes for Venus to complete one orbit around the Sun, which takes 225 Earth days. On Venus, as on Mercury, a year is actually shorter than a day!
Surface
Venus shows evidence of very strong volcanic activity and likely has more volcanoes than our planet. Scientists have never seen an active lava flow on Venus, but they estimate that 80% of the planet's surface is covered by smooth, volcanic plains that are left over from previous lava flows. Venus is entirely cloaked in thick clouds that hide its surface. In order to study it, scientists must use either spacecraft that land on the planet or radar technology on board satellites or probes.
Despite being only the second planet from the Sun, Venus (not Mercury) is the hottest planet in our solar system. Venus's high temperature is caused by its extremely thick atmosphere, which is over 90 times thicker than Earth's! This outer layer is composed almost entirely of carbon dioxide, a well-known gas responsible for a very strong greenhouse...
The first exploration of Venus was done by the Soviet probe Venera 1. Launched in 1961, the spacecraft was supposed to fly by Venus to take a closer look at the planet. Unfortunately, the probe malfunctioned before it made its closest approach. Many other spacecraft were launched to study Venus, including several that landed on the planet's surface...
Consequently, Venus transits above Earth only occur when an inferior conjunction takes place during some days of June or December, the time where the orbits of Venus and Earth cross a straight line with the Sun. [185] This results in Venus transiting above Earth in a sequence of currently 8 years, 105.5 years, 8 years and 121.5 years, forming cycles of 243 years.
Jun 17, 2024 · One day on Venus (the time it takes to rotate once on its axis) is equivalent to 243 Earth days, and it does so more slowly than its own orbital period around the Sun, which is about 225 Earth days. This means that on Venus, a day is longer than a year. The linear speed of Venus in its orbit around the Sun is approximately 34,974 km/h.
Apr 29, 2021 · Earth and Venus have a lot in common: Both rocky planets have nearly the same size, mass and density. ... get everything to work just right in a 30-second period," Margot said. "Most of the time ...