Saturday, August 29, 2009

VENUS

Venus Astronomical symbol of Venus
Venus
Venus in real color
Designations
Pronunciation /ˈviːnəs/ ( listen)
Adjective Venusian or (rarely) Cytherean, Venerean
Epoch J2000
Aphelion 108,942,109 km
0.728 231 28 AU
Perihelion 107,476,259 km
0.718 432 70 AU
Semi-major axis 108,208,930 km
0.723 332 AU
Eccentricity 0.006 8
Orbital period 224.700 69 day
0.615 197 0 yr
1.92 Venus solar day
Synodic period 583.92 days[1]
Average orbital speed 35.02 km/s
Inclination 3.394 71° to Ecliptic
3.86° to Sun’s equator
2.19° to Invariable plane[2]
Longitude of ascending node 76.670 69°
Argument of perihelion 54.852 29°
Satellites None
Physical characteristics
Mean radius 6,051.8 ± 1.0 km[3]
0.949 9 Earths
Flattening 0[3]
Surface area 4.60 × 108 km²
0.902 Earths
Volume 9.38 × 1011 km³
0.857 Earths
Mass 4.868 5 × 1024 kg
0.815 Earths
Mean density 5.204 g/cm³
Equatorial surface gravity 8.87 m/s2
0.904 g
Escape velocity 10.46 km/s
Sidereal rotation
period
-243.018 5 day
Equatorial rotation velocity 6.52 km/h (1.81 m/s)
Axial tilt 177.3°[1]
North pole right ascension 18 h 11 min 2 s
272.76°[4]
North pole declination 67.16°
Albedo 0.65 (geometric) or 0.75 (bond)[1]
Surface temp.
Kelvin
Celsius
min mean max

735 K[1][6][7]

461.85 °C
Apparent magnitude up to -4.6[1] (crescent)
-3.8[5] (full)
Angular diameter 9.7" – 66.0"[1]
Atmosphere
Surface pressure 93 bar (9.3 MPa)
Composition ~96.5% Carbon dioxide
~3.5% Nitrogen
0.015% Sulfur dioxide
0.007% Argon
0.002% Water vapor
0.001 7% Carbon monoxide
0.001 2% Helium
0.000 7% Neon
trace Carbonyl sulfide
trace Hydrogen chloride
trace Hydrogen fluoride

Venus is the second-closest planet to the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6. Because Venus is an inferior planet from Earth, it never appears to venture far from the Sun: its elongation reaches a maximum of 47.8°. Venus reaches its maximum brightness shortly before sunrise or shortly after sunset, for which reason it is often called the Morning Star or the Evening Star.

Classified as a terrestrial planet, it is sometimes called Earth's "sister planet" because they are similar in size, gravity, and bulk composition. Venus is covered with an opaque layer of highly reflective clouds of sulfuric acid, preventing its surface from being seen from space in visible light. Venus has the densest atmosphere of all the terrestrial planets, consisting mostly of carbon dioxide, as it has no carbon cycle to lock carbon back into rocks and surface features, nor organic life to absorb it in biomass. A younger Venus is believed to have possessed Earth-like oceans,[8] but these totally evaporated as the temperature rose, leaving a dusty dry desertscape with many slab-like rocks. The water has most likely dissociated, and, because of the lack of a planetary magnetic field, the hydrogen has been swept into interplanetary space by the solar wind.[9] The atmospheric pressure at the planet's surface is 92 times that of the Earth.

Venus's surface was a subject of speculation until some of its secrets were revealed by planetary science in the twentieth century. It was finally mapped in detail by Project Magellan in 1990–91. The ground shows evidence of extensive volcanism, and the sulfur in the atmosphere may indicate that there have been some recent eruptions.[10][11] However, it is an enigma why no evidence of lava flow accompanies any of the visible caldera. There are a low number of impact craters, demonstrating that the surface is relatively young, approximately half a billion years old. There is no evidence for plate tectonics, possibly because its crust is too strong to subduct without water to make it less viscous. Instead, Venus may lose its internal heat in periodic massive resurfacing events.[12]

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