 Mythology

 Size
 Mass and Density
 Distance from Sun and Earth
 Rotation
 Revolution
 Orbit
 Gravitational Force and Magnetic Field
Surface
Atmosphere
Temperature
 Pressure
Satellite and Ring
Spacecrafts
Mythology
• named after the Roman
goddess of love and
beauty. The planet was so
named because it was the
brightest of the planets
known to the ancients.
• commonly called the
“evening star” or the
“morning star”
(depending on which side
of the sun it happens to be
on).
Size
• sometimes called
Earth’s “twin” or
“sister” because the
planets are so much
alike.
• they are almost the
same size
• has an equatorial
diameter of 12,112
km/7,500 mi .
Mass and density

• relative mass
0.82 that of the
earth.
• average
density of 5.3
g/cm3 .
 Distance from sun and Earth

• the second planet from

Earth the Sun.
• the closest planet to the
Venus earth.
Sun
• the most brilliant
natural object in the sky
Mercury
after the sun and moon.
• the same side is always
facing earth when the
two planets pass in orbit.
 Distance from sun and Earth
• mean distance
Earth from the sun is
108.2 million
Venus km/67.2 million
Sun
miles
• mean distance
Mercury
from the earth is
0.7 AU/38 million
km/24 million
miles
A view of Venus from Earth
Rotation
• rotates on its axis
more slowly than any
other planet.
• rotates once every 243
days in retrograde
motion.
• rotates from east to
west.
• takes 59 days to
complete one rotation.
Revolution

• takes 225 days

to complete one
revolution around
the sun.
• because of it,
Venus day is
longer than year.
 orbit

• mean orbital
velocity is 35.02
km/sec.
• inclination of
Venus
orbit to ecliptic is
3°24’.
• eccentricity of
orbit is 0.007.
Gravitational Force And Magnetic Field

• If a 150 pound
person went on
Venus. They would
weigh 132 pounds.

• much weaker
than that of Earth
Surface
• consist mainly of
silicate rock and may
have an interior structure
similar to that of earth.
• relatively young surfaces
like earth.
• similar in chemical and
density compositions of
earth.
• doted with deep
impacts craters.
Surface
• rather smooth in
many places, though
not nearly as smooth as
originally expected.
• evidences for some of
the same geological
features found on
Earth: canyons,
volcanoes, lava flows,
rift valleys, mountains,
craters, and plains.
Surface
• very rocky and
covered with
volcanoes.
• shows signs that it
once had water, but
it probably boiled
away.
• no water on Venus
right now, because
it’s too hot for rain to
form.
Surface
• Gula Mons, is a
1.86 mile high
volcano. The impact
crater Cunitz,
named for the
astronomer and
mathematician
Maria Cunitz.
• The crater is 30
miles in diameter.
 Surface

Computer generated 3-D view of Sif Mons volcano, Venus.

Atmosphere
• is composed of about 96%
carbon dioxide, with most of
the remainder being
nitrogen.
• shrouded in thick clouds
that reflect a lot of sunlight
which hide the surface from
our view.
• its clouds are composed of
sulfuric acid and various
other corrosive compounds,
and the atmosphere contains
little water.
Atmosphere
• high-velocity winds in the
upper atmosphere, but the
atmosphere below the cloud
deck appears to be relatively
stagnant, with only very weak
winds blowing at the surface.
• Convection driven by
differential solar heating should
give rise to winds of only a few
meters per second, so the high
velocity upper level winds, and
the contrasting stagnation of
the lower atmosphere, are not
well understood.
temperature
• around 500 degrees
Celsius, exceeding that of
Mercury and hot enough
to melt soft metals.
• calculations indicate
that for the temperatures
to be so high there must
be a mechanism in the
Venusians atmosphere
that traps solar radiation
very effectively.
Pressure

• about 90 times
that of the Earth
at the surface.
• so intense, it
would be like
feeling pressure
900 meters below
the ocean.
 Satellite and Ring

No moon and ring!

Spacecrafts
• More than 20 spacecrafts
have visited Venus. The
very first one was
Mariner 2/flyby 1962.

• Some of the other

spacecrafts include
Pioneer Venus, Venera
3/impact 1965, Venera
7/soft landing , Venera
9/panorama 1975, and
Venera 13/color images
of surface 1981.
Spacecrafts
• The Venus Express
was launched on
October 26, 2005.
• After a six month
cruise to Venus the
spacecraft entered
the orbit of Venus in
April 2006, where it
spent the next 500
days investigating the
atmosphere of Venus.
Kamsahamnida!
Presentor:
Evangeline A. Bocasas
BSEd 2-5