Facts about Venus
The second planet from the Sun, Venus is uniquely different than the Earth. Let’s take a look at some facts about Venus.
Facts about Venus
Venus is one of the brightest planets in the night sky. Setting and rising with the sun, it is difficult to see during the day, which resulted in the historic misinterpretation that it was two planets. As technology improved, the truth of its singular existence become apparent, although it is still often referred to as the evening star and morning star in many cultures.
Here are the facts about Venus:
- Venus is the second planet from the Sun.
- Venus is slightly smaller than the earth in diameter – roughly 6 percent.
- Objects on Venus weigh 10 percent less than on Earth due to reduced gravity.
- On average, Venus is 67 million miles from the Sun while the Earth is 93 million.
- The average temperature on Venus is a toasty 850 degrees Fahrenheit.
- The atmosphere of Venus is made up primarily of Carbon Dioxide and Nitrogen.
- Venus has no moons.
- Venus takes 243 days to complete a rotation around the sun.
- The core of Venus is primarily iron.
- The planet is highly volcanic.
- Similar to Earth, Venus has a magnetic field but much weaker.
- The atmosphere of Venus is so thick with clouds, the surface characteristics were unknown until a Russian probe visited the planet.
- Venus spins the opposite direction of the Earth.
- Venus spins so slowly, one of its days is equivalent to 255 days on Earth.
- When sending probes into the solar system, Venus is sometimes used as a slingshot to pick up speed by whipping the probe around the planet.
- The former communist Russia was the first to land a probe on Venus. It was the first landing on any planet of any sort by humans.
As these facts about Venus reveal, the volcanic activity and relative closeness to the Earth make it a subject of interest for scientists. Being bright, it is also one of the first planets amateur astronomers locate in the sky.
