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Venus: Planets
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Venus was the first planet to be observed by a passing spacecraft. The unmanned U.S. spacecraft Mariner 2 passed within 21,600 miles (34,760 kilometers) of Venus on Dec. 14, 1962, after traveling through space for more than 31/2 months. It measured various conditions on and near Venus. For example, instruments carried by the spacecraft measured the high temperatures of the planet.
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Known for its beauty in the sky, Venus is the second planet from the Sun and similar in size to Earth. However, its immense surface heat and pressure make the planet completely uninhabitable. It has a thick, poisonous atmosphere of carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid. Thick clouds hide a surface covered with lava flows, quake faults and impact craters. In fact, one lava-filled basin is larger than the continental United States and one volcano is taller than Mt. Everest.
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At a glance, Venus and the Earth have many similar traits. They share almost the same size and weight, both orbit relatively close to the Sun, and contain similar amounts of several key elements. Before short-ranged observations of the planet occurred, many people speculated that the pale yellow clouds of Venus hid a warm, wet planet teeming with life. Nothing could be further from the truth.
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Venus has the slowest rotation rate of any planet in the solar system. Venus ... rotates retrograde, which means the Sun rises in the west. Because Venus rotates so slowly, its atmosphere moves in global-scale weather patterns, producing a distinctive U shape to its clouds.
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Venus 'overtakes' the Earth every 584 days as it orbits the Sun. As it does so, it goes from being the 'Evening star', visible after sunset, to being the 'Morning star', visible before sunrise. While Mercury, the other inferior planet, reaches a maximum elongation of only 28° and is often difficult to discern in twilight, Venus is hard to miss when it is at its brightest. Its greater maximum elongation means it is visible in dark skies long after sunset. As the brightest point-like object in the sky, Venus is a commonly misreported 'unidentified flying object'. In 1973, future U.S. President Jimmy Carter reported having seen a UFO in 1969, which later analysis suggested was probably the planet, and countless other people have mistaken Venus for something more exotic.[44]
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Venus and Earth are almost the same size. Venus is the closest planet to Earth, but it does not have oceans or human life like Earth. Venus gets so hot during the day that it could melt a lead cannonball. The temperature rises to 484 degrees Celsius on the side facing the Sun. Venus has very thick, rapidly spinning clouds which cover its surface. These clouds hold heat in. That is why Venus gets so hot.
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