Explore the Universe - Venus

Venus is the second closest planet to the Sun and the closest planet to Earth.  It is the brightest object in the sky besides the Sun and the Moon.  It has been recorded for millennia and finds itself in many myths.  Venus was the first planet in the solar system that our spacecraft visited (1962) and also the first with a lander back in 1970.

The image below was taken when Venus was a waning crescent.

Venus

Some of the fast facts about Venus are shown below.

Orbital Period (Year)	225 days
Rotational Period (Sidereal Day)	243 days (retrograde rotation)
Axial Tilt	2.64°
Surface Area	0.902 of Earth
Volume	0.866 of Earth
Mass	0.815 of Earth
Gravity	0.904g
Surface Temperature (mean)	462°C
Surface Pressure	9,200 kPa

Many of the items in the list above are absolutely fascinating. 

A year on Venus is shorter than its day! 

It is very close to the same size as the Earth. 

It is the hottest planet in our solar system with a temperature around 462°C.  The temperature on Venus does not fluctuate very much and remains approximately the same whether Venus is facing the Sun or not.  This is quite different than Mercury which fluctuates between -170°C and 450°C.

The atmospheric pressure on Venus is a whopping 9,200 kPa!  This would be similar to being over a kilometer under the Earth's ocean.  The winds on the surface of the planet only reach to a few km/h.  However, since the pressure is so high those light winds are enough to move rocks around and kick up a significant amount of dust.  The winds higher in the atmosphere can reach and amazing 700km/h.

Venus, just like Uranus, also rotates in the opposite direction to the other planets.  They would rotate clockwise as viewed from the North Pole.

Venus lacks plate tectonics but has many large volcanoes (many more than Earth) that periodically (half a billion years) resurface the planet.

Keep up to date on how you can see this bright planet by checking out the latest Weekly Update!

Good luck in your planet viewing!