What is the Planet Venus? | Types, Definition, Structure, Function & Facts
What is the Planet Venus?
Venus can best be described in two words: cloudy and warm. The entire surface of Venus is constantly covered by clouds. These clouds are mainly made up of carbon dioxide which has a greenhouse effect that traps the sun’s heat like a giant blanket. As a result, Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system. It is even hotter than Mercury, much closer to the Sun.
Venus is a rocky planet like Mercury, Earth, and Mars. This means it has a hard rock surface. Its geography is somewhat similar to that of Earth with mountains, valleys, plateaus, and volcanoes. However, it is completely dry and has long rivers of molten lava and thousands of volcanoes. There are more than 100 giant volcanoes on Venus, each 100 kilometers or more in diameter.
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Highlights of Planet Venus:
| Moons | 0 |
| Mass | 82% of Earth |
| Diameter | 7520 miles (12,104 km) |
| Year | 225 Earth days |
| Day | 243 Earth days |
| Average Temperature | 880°F (471°C) |
| Distance from the Sun | 2nd planet from the sun, 67 million miles (108 million km) |
| Type of Planet | Terrestrial (has a hard rocky surface) |
How does Venus compare to Earth?
Venus is very similar to Earth in size, mass, and gravity. It is sometimes referred to as the sister planet of Earth. Of course, Venus’s dense atmosphere and intense heat make Venus very different in many ways. Water, an essential part of the Earth, is not found on Venus.
How do we know about Venus?
Venus is so easy to see without a telescope, there’s no way of knowing who might have noticed the planet first. Some ancient civilizations believed that they were two planets or luminaries: a “morning star” and an “evening star”. In the 6th century BC, a Greek mathematician named Pythagoras noted that it was the same planet. It was Galileo in the 1600s who discovered that Venus orbits the sun.
Since the beginning of the space age, many probes and spacecraft have been sent to Venus. Some spacecraft have even landed on Venus and sent us back information about the surface of Venus under the clouds. The first spacecraft to land on the surface was Venera 7, a Russian ship. Then, between 1989 and 1994, the Magellan probe used radar to map the surface of Venus in great detail.
Interesting Facts about the Planet Venus
Atmospheric pressure on the surface of the planet is 92 times higher than that of Earth.
Venus has a unique lava feature known as a dome or farra “pancake” which is a large lava pancake (up to 20 miles in diameter and 3000 feet in height).
Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love. It’s the only planet named after a woman.
It is the sixth largest of the eight planets.