Planet Venus - general characteristics and interesting facts. Planet Venus: possible refuge or immediate danger Mass of Venus

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The universe is huge. Scientists trying to embrace it in their research often feel the incomparable loneliness of humanity that permeates some of Efremov’s novels. There is too little chance of finding life like ours in accessible space.

For a long time, the solar system, shrouded in legends no less than in fog, was among the candidates for settlement by organic life.

Venus, in terms of distance from the star, immediately follows Mercury and is our closest neighbor. From Earth it can be seen without the help of a telescope: in the evening and predawn hours, Venus is the brightest in the sky after the Moon and the Sun. The color of the planet for a simple observer is always white.

In literature you can find it referred to as the Earth's twin. There are a number of explanations for this: the description of the planet Venus in many respects repeats the data about our home. First of all, these include the diameter (about 12,100 km), which practically coincides with the corresponding characteristic of the Blue Planet (a difference of about 5%). The mass of the object, named after the goddess of love, also differs little from that of the earth. Proximity also played a role in partial identification.

The discovery of the atmosphere reinforced the opinion about the similarity of the two. Information about the planet Venus, confirming the presence of a special air envelope, was obtained by M.V. Lomonosov in 1761. A brilliant scientist observed the passage of the planet across the disk of the Sun and noticed a special glow. The phenomenon was explained by the refraction of light rays in the atmosphere. However, subsequent discoveries revealed a huge gap between the seemingly similar conditions on the two planets.

Veil of secrecy

The density of the atmosphere is a factor that makes Venus so clearly visible from Earth and at the same time inaccessible to research. The layers of clouds that shroud the planet reflect light well, but are opaque to scientists who want to determine what they hide. More detailed information about the planet Venus became available only after the start of space research.

The composition of the cloud cover is not fully understood. Presumably, sulfuric acid vapor plays a large role in it. The concentration of gases and the density of the atmosphere, approximately one hundred times higher than on Earth, creates a greenhouse effect on the surface.

Eternal heat

The weather on the planet Venus is in many ways similar to fantastic descriptions of conditions in the underworld. Due to the peculiarities of the atmosphere, the surface never cools even from that part that is turned away from the Sun. And this despite the fact that the Morning Star makes a revolution around its axis in more than 243 Earth days! The temperature on the planet Venus is +470ºC.

The absence of a change of seasons is explained by the tilt of the planet’s axis, which, according to various sources, does not exceed 40 or 10º. Moreover, the thermometer column here gives the same results both for the equatorial zone and for the polar region.

Greenhouse effect

Such conditions leave no chance for water. According to researchers, Venus once had oceans, but rising temperatures made their existence impossible. Ironically, the formation of the greenhouse effect became possible precisely due to the evaporation of large amounts of water. The steam allows sunlight to pass through, but traps heat at the surface, thereby causing the temperature to rise.

Surface

The heat also contributed to the formation of the landscape. Before the advent of radar methods in the arsenal of astronomy, the nature of the surface of the planet Venus was hidden from scientists. The photographs and images taken helped to create a fairly detailed relief map.

High temperatures have thinned the planet's crust, so there are a large number of volcanoes, both active and extinct. They give Venus that hilly appearance that is clearly visible in radar images. Flows of basaltic lava have formed vast plains, against which hills stretching over several tens of square kilometers are clearly visible. These are the so-called continents, comparable in size to Australia, and in the nature of the terrain reminiscent of the mountain ranges of Tibet. Their surface is dotted with cracks and craters, in contrast to the landscape of part of the plains, which is almost completely smooth.

There are much fewer craters left by meteorites here than, for example, on the Moon. Scientists name two possible reasons for this: a dense atmosphere, which plays the role of a kind of screen, and active processes that erase traces of falling cosmic bodies. In the first case, the discovered craters most likely appeared during a period when the atmosphere was more rarefied.

Desert

The description of the planet Venus will be incomplete if we pay attention only to radar data. They give an idea of ​​the nature of the relief, but it is difficult for the average person to understand on their basis what he would see if he got here. Studies of spacecraft landing on the Morning Star helped answer the question of what color the planet Venus would appear to an observer on its surface. As befits a hellish landscape, shades of orange and gray dominate here. The landscape really resembles a desert, waterless and bursting with heat. This is Venus. The color of the planet, characteristic of the soil, dominates the sky. The reason for such an unusual color is the absorption of the short-wavelength part of the light spectrum, characteristic of a dense atmosphere.

Learning Difficulties

Data about Venus is collected by devices with great difficulty. Staying on the planet is complicated by strong winds that reach their peak speed at an altitude of 50 km above the surface. Near the ground, the elements calm down to a large extent, but even weak air movement is a significant obstacle in the dense atmosphere that the planet Venus has. Photos that give an idea of ​​the surface are taken by ships that can only withstand a hostile onslaught for a few hours. However, there are enough of them that after each expedition scientists discover something new for themselves.

Hurricane winds are not the only feature that the weather on the planet Venus is famous for. Thunderstorms rage here with a frequency exceeding the same parameter for the Earth twice as much. During periods of increasing activity, lightning causes a specific glow in the atmosphere.

"Eccentricities" of the Morning Star

The Venusian wind is the reason why the clouds move around the planet much faster than the planet itself around its axis. As noted, the latter parameter is 243 days. The atmosphere sweeps around the planet in four days. The Venusian quirks don't end there.

The length of the year here is slightly less than the length of the day: 225 Earth days. At the same time, the Sun on the planet rises not in the east, but in the west. Such an unconventional direction of rotation is characteristic only of Uranus. It was the speed of rotation around the Sun that exceeded the Earth's speed that made it possible to observe Venus twice during the day: in the morning and in the evening.

The planet's orbit is almost a perfect circle, and the same can be said about its shape. The Earth is slightly flattened at the poles; the Morning Star does not have this feature.

Coloring

What color is the planet Venus? Partially this topic has already been covered, but not everything is so clear. This characteristic can also be considered one of the features that Venus possesses. The color of the planet, when viewed from space, differs from the dusty orange inherent in the surface. Again, it’s all about the atmosphere: the veil of clouds does not let the rays of the blue-green spectrum pass below and at the same time colors the planet for an outside observer in a dirty white. For earthlings, rising above the horizon, the Morning Star has a cold shine, and not a reddish glow.

Structure

Numerous spacecraft missions have made it possible to draw not only conclusions about the color of the surface, but also to study in more detail what is underneath it. The structure of the planet is similar to that of Earth. The morning star has a crust (about 16 km thick), a mantle underneath and a core - the core. The size of the planet Venus is close to that of Earth, but the ratio of its internal shells is different. The thickness of the mantle layer is more than three thousand kilometers; its basis is various silicon compounds. The mantle surrounds a relatively small core, liquid and predominantly iron. Significantly inferior to the earthly “heart,” it makes a significant contribution to approximately a quarter of it.

Features of the planet's core deprive it of its own magnetic field. As a result, Venus is exposed to the solar wind and is not protected from the so-called hot flow anomaly, explosions of colossal magnitude that occur frighteningly often and could, according to researchers, absorb the Morning Star.

Exploring the Earth

All the characteristics that Venus has: the color of the planet, the greenhouse effect, the movement of magma, and so on, are being studied, including with the aim of applying the data obtained to our planet. It is believed that the structure of the surface of the second planet from the Sun can give an idea of ​​​​what the young Earth looked like about 4 billion years ago.

Data on atmospheric gases tell researchers about the time when Venus was just forming. They are also used in constructing theories about the development of the Blue Planet.

For a number of scientists, the scorching heat and lack of water on Venus seem to be a possible future for the Earth.

Artificial cultivation of life

Projects to populate other planets with organic life are also associated with forecasts promising the death of the Earth. One of the candidates is Venus. The ambitious plan is to spread blue-green algae in the atmosphere and on the surface, which is a central link in the theory of the origin of life on our planet. Delivered microorganisms, in theory, can significantly reduce the level of carbon dioxide concentration and lead to a decrease in pressure on the planet, after which further settlement of the planet will become possible. The only insurmountable obstacle to the implementation of the plan is the lack of water necessary for the algae to flourish.

Certain hopes in this matter are pinned on some types of mold, but so far all developments remain at the level of theory, since sooner or later they encounter significant difficulties.

Venus is a truly mysterious planet in the solar system. The research carried out answered a lot of questions related to it, and at the same time gave rise to new ones, in some ways even more complex. The morning star is one of the few cosmic bodies that bear a female name, and, like a beautiful girl, it attracts glances and occupies the thoughts of scientists, and therefore there is a high probability that researchers will still tell us a lot of interesting things about our neighbor.

Humanity has always been interested in a bright star that gives its bright light in the morning hours or is observed in the early twilight. This brilliant celestial body - Venus - is the second planet of the solar system. However, despite such an attractive appearance, in reality the alluring and distant world is a hellish boiling cauldron in which there is no place for anything living.

Discovery of the planet Venus

The celestial body, which appears in the sky, has a brightness of -4.6 apparent magnitude, has long been known to man. In terms of its brightness, Venus is the third object in the sky, second only to the Sun and Moon. The most convenient time to observe this beauty is morning and evening hours. The periods of morning and evening visibility alternate for 585 days.

For this she was nicknamed “the morning star.” As a rule, Venus is easy to see with the naked eye in the western or eastern part of the sky, not far from the horizon. The planet appears quite often, delighting amateur astronomers with its brilliance. The sight is impressive when the morning star appears in company with Jupiter. Two bright points in the night sky will not leave anyone indifferent.

The second planet from the Sun was first observed by the ancient Chinese and Persians. In those early years, Venus served as a natural indicator of time. The time of appearance of the morning star determined the approximate time of day. Ancient astronomers and astrologers considered Venus a planet. Thanks to its astrophysical parameters, the celestial body fit perfectly into the heliocentric system proposed by Aristarchus of Samos. Much later, already in the 16th century. Through the efforts of Copernicus, Venus firmly took an honorable second place in the heliocentric system.

Despite the fact that humanity received information about Venus back in ancient times, the honor of discovering the celestial body fell to Galileo Galilei. It was he who first saw the morning star through his telescope in 1610. The scientist managed to discover Venusian phases similar to the lunar ones, which confirmed the theory of the heliocentric system of movement of celestial bodies. 29 years later, in 1639, scientists were able to observe Venus in all its glory. The planet made its way, passing through the huge solar disk.

Subsequently, a close study of the second planet from the Sun gave every reason to consider Venus a twin of our Blue Planet. Thanks to the efforts of Mikhail Lomonosov, the “morning star” acquired an atmosphere. For a long time, information about the size of the celestial body and astrophysical data gave reason to consider the planet suitable for the existence of life. However, the morning beauty stubbornly hid her true appearance. Observations of the planet using powerful and sophisticated optics have not shed any light on the natural nature of Venus. Only the flights of the first automatic probes in the second half of the twentieth century lifted the veil of secrecy.

General information about the planet Venus

Today, the physical and astrophysical parameters of the planet closest to Earth are well known. This object is a massive solid body orbiting our star in an almost circular orbit. The maximum distance of the “morning star” from the Sun is 108,942,109 km. At perihelion, Venus approaches the center of the solar system at a distance of 107,476,259 km. Despite the almost ideal parameters of the Venusian orbit, the distance between the morning beauty and the Earth varies over a wide range - from 36 to 261 million km. With this arrangement of two neighboring planets, it will take just over 6 months to cover the distance between Venus and Earth. Launched on November 9, 2005, the Venus Express spacecraft reached our neighbor 153 days later.

The record for time - 97 days spent on a flight to Venus - belongs to the Soviet automatic interplanetary station Venera-1. The American probe Mariner 2 flew to the “morning star” two weeks longer, 110 days. The ship, launched on August 8, 1962, reached the vicinity of another planet on December 14 of the same year. Thanks to the Mariner 2 flight, the first photographs of the object from space were obtained.

With the help of space probes, earthlings were able to see Venus, a planet very similar to our Earth, in all its glory. The size of the "morning star" is almost identical to the size of the Earth. The average radius of the planetary disk is 6051 km, which is 320 kilometers less than the radius of planet Earth (6371 km). The surface area of ​​the Earth's neighbor in space is 460 million km².

Venus has a hard surface and belongs to the terrestrial planets, which, along with our planet, includes Mercury and distant Mars. For comparison, just look at the data on the mass and average density of Venus in comparison with other terrestrial planets:

• Mercury has a mass of 3.33022·10²³ kg and an average density of 5.427 g/cm³;
• the mass of Venus is 4.8675·10²⁴ kg, and the average density is 5.24 g/cm³;
• the mass of the Earth is 5.9726·10²⁴ kg with an average density of 5.5153 g/cm³;
• Mars weighs 6.4171·10²³ kg with an average density of 3.933 g/cm³.

From the given data it is clearly visible how similar the second and third planets of the solar system are - Venus and Earth. This is once again confirmed by the Venusian gravitational force, equal to 8.87 m/s². On Earth, this parameter is 9.780327 m/s².

As for the astrophysical parameters, this is where the differences begin. The Earth's closest neighbor makes a full revolution around the Sun in 224 Earth days. The rotation of the planet around its own axis is generally carried out in the opposite direction, i.e. The sun on Venus rises in the West and sets in the East. Despite its rather brisk run in orbit—the planet’s speed is 35 km/s—the “morning star” rotates the slowest around its own axis. A Venusian day is 242 Earth days.

Description of the planet Venus, interesting facts

The geophysical characteristics of the second planet in the solar system are quite interesting. Although externally similar to the Earth, the “morning star” has a similar structure and structure.

Venus is the planet closest to us in structure. The similarity of the two celestial bodies is explained by the high density that is characteristic of all terrestrial planets. Scientists suggest that the “morning star” has a heavy iron-nickel core. However, despite the high temperatures, the planet's core does not have convection, which does not provide the celestial body with a strong magnetic field. The diameter of the core is estimated to be 3000 km.

The celestial beauty's mantle occupies quite a large volume. The thickness of this layer is equal to half the radius of the planet - 3000 kilometers. High temperatures prevail here, ensuring constant eruption of lava flows to the surface. The Venusian crust has an average thickness of 30-50 km and consists of silicate and silicon rocks. A significant difference in the structure of the surface layer of the second planet of the solar system is the absence of tectonics. On Venus, tectonic activity stopped billions of years ago, while on Earth similar processes occur constantly. The celestial body turned into a hot stone ball rushing in orbit. Due to the absence of tectonic processes, the “morning star” has no generated magnetic field.

While we can only guess about the deep structure of our terrestrial neighbor, the data on the surface of the planet are quite eloquent. This is the hottest place in the solar system. It turned out that the temperature on the surface of the heavenly beauty is very high and reaches 475⁰ Celsius. Under such conditions there is no water on the planet. It is absent in both liquid and vapor states. It is very dry and hot here - a real heat.

As for the Venusian landscape, here you can see a typical picture of primordial chaos. Two-thirds of the planet's surface is covered with flat and smooth plains formed by constant large-scale lava eruptions. The vast plains on the “morning star” are comparable in area to the Earth’s continents. During the research process, the Venusian continents received names in honor of the goddesses of love, taken from the myths of different countries. The largest Venusian volcano, Maat, has a height of more than 8 thousand meters. This is higher than any terrestrial volcano. The Venusian plains are rugged with lava rivers, which in some places reach a length of 3-3.5 thousand kilometers.

The geological past of the planet is represented by mountainous regions, among which the Maxwell Ridge especially stands out. The maximum height of the mountain peaks is 11,000 meters.

The composition of the atmosphere of our cosmic neighbor

A distinctive feature of the planet's surface is the small number of craters of cosmic origin. The reliable protection of this distant world is the atmosphere of the planet. The main component of the Venusian air envelope is carbon dioxide. Nitrogen, water vapor, sulfuric acid and molecular oxygen are present in the atmosphere in small quantities. The lowest layer, 65 km thick, is the densest. Essentially, this is a sulfuric acid mist that has spread over the entire surface of the “morning beauty”. This is confirmed by the enormous pressure that is present on the surface of the planet, more than 93 bar. With altitude, atmospheric pressure drops and becomes similar to terrestrial parameters.

The high concentration of carbon dioxide in the planet's atmosphere is explained by the high volcanic activity that was observed on the planet in the past. Carbon dioxide continues to enter the atmosphere of Venus in large quantities today. This process is facilitated by intense lava eruptions that continue today. The high concentration of CO₂, water vapor and sulfur dioxide in the surface layer of the planet generates a strong greenhouse effect. Solar energy is trapped by the dense atmosphere, which leads to significant overheating of the planet's surface. Because of this, the daily temperature difference on Venus is insignificant. The temperature gradually decreases with altitude, and the density of Venusian sulfuric acid clouds also decreases with altitude.

Morning Star Research

The first accurate data were obtained thanks to the flight of the Soviet spacecraft Venera-7, which landed on the surface of the second planet in the solar system on December 15, 1970. Subsequently, the Soviet space program "Venus" was continued. The Venera 9 and Venera 10 spacecraft provided the scientific community with images of the Venusian landscape. A distinctive feature of the planet's surface is the small number of craters of cosmic origin. The reliable protection of this distant world is the atmosphere of the planet.

Following the Soviet probes “Venus”, the American probes “Piner-1” and “Pioneer-2” went to the “morning star”, and began mapping the surface of Venus. Next came the turn of the Soviet Vega spacecraft, launched in 1984.

Scientists received the most complete information about our neighbor from the Magellan station, which operated in the orbit of the morning goddess for almost five years. Thanks to this spacecraft, we now have an accurate map of the Venusian surface. The most recent acquaintance with the second planet of the solar system can be called the flight of the ESA Venus Express spacecraft, which set off on a date on November 9, 2005.

Venus is the second planet in the solar system farthest from the main star. It is often called the “twin sister of the Earth”, because it is almost identical to our planet in size and is its kind of neighbor, but otherwise has many differences.

History of the name

The celestial body was named named after the Roman goddess of fertility. In different languages, the translations of this word vary - there is such a meaning as “mercy of the gods”, Spanish “shell” and Latin - “love, charm, beauty”. The only planet in the solar system, it has earned the right to be called a beautiful female name due to the fact that in ancient times it was one of the brightest in the sky.

Dimensions and composition, nature of the soil

Venus is quite a bit smaller than our planet - its mass is 80% of the Earth's. More than 96% of it is carbon dioxide, the rest is nitrogen with a small amount of other compounds. According to its structure the atmosphere is dense, deep and very cloudy and consists mainly of carbon dioxide, so the surface is difficult to see due to a peculiar “greenhouse effect”. The pressure there is 85 times greater than ours. The composition of the surface in its density resembles the basalts of the Earth, but it itself extremely dry due to the complete lack of liquid and high temperatures. The crust is 50 kilometers thick and consists of silicate rocks.

Research by scientists has shown that Venus has granite deposits along with uranium, thorium and potassium, as well as basalt rocks. The top layer of soil is close to the ground, and the surface is strewn with thousands of volcanoes.

Periods of rotation and circulation, change of seasons

The period of rotation around its axis for this planet is quite long and is approximately 243 Earth days, exceeding the period of revolution around the Sun, which is equal to 225 Earth days. Thus, a Venusian day is longer than one Earth year - this is the longest day on all planets in the solar system.

Another interesting feature is that Venus, unlike other planets in the system, rotates in the opposite direction - from east to west. At its closest approach to the Earth, the cunning “neighbor” turns only one side all the time, managing to make 4 revolutions around its own axis during breaks.

The calendar turns out to be very unusual: the Sun rises in the west, sets in the east, and there is practically no change of seasons due to its too slow rotation around itself and constant “baking” from all sides.

Expeditions and satellites

The first spacecraft sent from Earth to Venus was the Soviet spacecraft Venera 1, launched in February 1961, the course of which could not be corrected and went far past. The flight made by Mariner 2, which lasted 153 days, became more successful, and The ESA Venus Express orbiting satellite passed as close as possible, launched in November 2005.

In the future, namely in 2020-2025, the American space agency plans to send a large-scale space expedition to Venus, which will have to get answers to many questions, in particular regarding the disappearance of oceans from the planet, geological activity, features of the atmosphere there and the factors of its change .

How long does it take to fly to Venus and is it possible?

The main difficulty of flying to Venus is that it is difficult to tell the ship exactly where to go in order to directly reach its destination. You can move along the transition orbits of one planet to another, as if catching up with her. Therefore, a small and inexpensive device will spend a significant part of its time on this. No human has ever set foot on the planet and it is unlikely that she will like this world of unbearable heat and strong wind. Is it just to fly by...

Concluding the report, let us note one more interesting fact: today nothing is known about natural satellites ah Venus. It also does not have rings, but it shines so brightly that on a moonless night it is clearly visible from the inhabited Earth.

If this message was useful to you, I would be glad to see you

Among the eight planets of the Solar System, Venus is perhaps the only space object that is very similar to our planet. As a result of space and astronomical studies of the planet, it turned out that its dimensions are almost the same as those of the Earth. Both planets are similar in mass and density. At first glance, it seems that Venus is the most suitable planet for life, ready to hospitably welcome earthlings in the process of subsequent exploration and colonization. In addition, it is the brightest object in the earth’s sky, for which it received the nickname “morning star”. Man naively believed that a beautiful appearance corresponds to an equally rosy and attractive reality. Maybe this was the case many billions of years ago.

Today, the “morning star” is blacklisted and recognized as one of the most hostile extraterrestrial worlds for humanity. Scientists, having studied the information about the planet obtained as a result of the flights of the American and Soviet automatic stations “Mariner” and “Venus”, put an end to the hypotheses and theories in which Venus was given the place of an extraterrestrial space paradise.

Discovery of the second planet of the solar system

The frequent appearance of Venus in the sky and its brightness have become one of the reasons for the increased interest in this cosmic object. Even in ancient times, astronomers and stargazers paid attention to a bright star burning with white light at dawn. For an earthly observer, it has always been extremely interesting to learn more about this curious space object. Subsequently, it turned out that there was simply no other planet in the solar system capable of shining so brightly like Venus. In addition, it quickly became clear that this is the closest planet to Earth, literally our neighbor in the vast and endless space.

Ancient astronomers, influenced by the beautiful radiance of the planet, gave our neighbor a sonorous and beautiful name - Venus, in honor of the ancient Greek goddess of love. Thanks to its successful and beautiful appearance, the planet has firmly established itself in the culture of mankind, becoming a favorite object in literature.

The first information about the planet dates back to 1500-1600 BC. Today's scientists found a description of a bright object in the sky in ancient Babylonian texts. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Mayan Indians were well acquainted with the “morning star”. The discovery of Venus as a planet took place only in the 17th century. First, Galileo Galilei discovered that Venus moves around the Sun and has phases similar to the Moon. Galileo compiled the first scientific description of an observed object and its movement across the sky. In 1639, the English astronomer Jeremy Horrocks managed to discover the planet through his telescope as it passed through the solar disk. Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov, during his observations, managed to discover the atmosphere of this celestial body, which gave reason to consider Venus a planet that has every chance of being inhabited.

The data obtained as a result of astronomical observations were very valuable and led scientists to believe that this planet and our Earth had much in common. There was a glimmer of hope that the physical conditions on Venus were very similar to the parameters of the terrestrial habitat. For a long time, there was an opinion in the scientific community and among science fiction writers that the second planet in the solar system was the cradle of an extraterrestrial civilization. Only in the second half of the twentieth century did people receive accurate astrophysical data about Venus, which debunked the myth about the planet’s suitability for all forms of life.

Astrophysical characteristics of Venus

Venus is the third brightest object in our starry sky, second only to the Sun and Moon. The planet is located in a heliocentric, almost regular circular orbit of 108.2 million km. from our star. The planets closest to Venus in the solar system are Mercury and Earth. The distance from Venus to Earth varies widely from 38 to 261 million kilometers.

The planet rotates around its own axis in 243 Earth days. However, due to the fact that Venus turns in the opposite direction from the Earth, from East to West, the value of the Venusian day decreases exactly by half. A Venusian day is equal to 116.8 Earth days.

Moving in orbit around the Sun at a speed of 35 km/s, the planet completes a full revolution in 224 Earth days. A characteristic phenomenon is that Venus's orbit and rotation around the Sun are in a strange discrepancy. Due to its extremely slow rotation around its own axis, combined with the period of the planet’s rotation around the Sun, Venus faces the Earth in most cases with almost the same side. This happens mainly when it is closest to Earth.

If you fly to Venus on board a spacecraft, the journey will take 305 months. The first flight of the Mariner 2 space probe took only 153 days. The minimum distance to Earth is 90-100 days.

Composition of the planet Venus: structure and structure

Venus belongs to the group of rocky planets, the surface of which has a solid and rocky base. Unlike the gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, the second planet has a high density. The average density of the planet is 5.204 g/cm3. In terms of basic physical parameters, Venus is very similar to Earth. This is indicated by the density of the planet, its mass and size.

The main parameters of Venus are as follows:

• the average radius of the planet Venus is 6052 km;
• the planet's diameter in the equatorial plane is 12100+- 10 km, 95% of the Earth's diameter;
• the length of the equator of Venus is 38025 km and is also 97% of the length of the earth's equator;
• the surface area of ​​the “morning star” is 460 million square kilometers, 90% of the earth’s surface area;
• the astronomical mass of the planet Venus is 4.87 trillion trillion kg;
• The volume of the planet is 928 billion km3.

As can be seen from the list, Venus, in terms of basic physical parameters, is the twin planet of our Earth. However, this is only a form. In terms of its content, Venus is far from what we are accustomed to imagine it to be. The surface of the planet is hidden from the outside world by dense clouds that permeate the Venusian atmosphere.

The composition and structure of the planet are almost identical to the Earth. It also has a metallic core surrounded by a mantle. The surface of the planet, just like on Earth, is represented by a thin crust. It is generally accepted that the Venusian core, with a diameter of about 6000 km, has an iron-nickel composition. The thickness of the mantle is quite impressive, about 3000 km. It is not possible to establish the exact chemical composition of the Venusian mantle. Probably, like on Earth, it is based on silicates. The thickness of the crust on the planet is identical to that of the Earth and has an average thickness of 16-30 km.

This is where the similarities between the two planets end. Then there are significant differences that make both planets complete opposites. Tectonic processes on Venus occurred in the distant past. The formation of the Venusian crust was completed approximately 500-600 million years ago. The surface of the planet is represented by frozen basalt seas, separated by vast hills. Some elevations on the surface are higher than on the ground, and the height of the Venusian mountains reaches 11 km. Depressions and depressions, similar in shape and structure to the Earth's oceans, occupy 1/6 of the planet's surface. There are not many craters of astrophysical origin on the planet. The largest of them has a diameter of 30 km, made by a fallen asteroid more than 1 million years ago.

It is unknown what state the inner core of the planet is in. However, the almost complete absence of a magnetic field suggests that the core is in a frozen state. The absence of convection between the liquid inner layers of the planet leads to the absence of the dynamo effect, which arises as a result of friction between the inner layers of the planet. This explains that Venus, one of the two twin planets of the terrestrial group, received such a weak magnetic field, only 5-10% of the strength of the Earth’s magnetosphere. The magnetic field of Venus is very weak and is mainly formed due to solar wind particles captured by the planet's gravity.

Accordingly, on Venus the acceleration due to gravity is also less – 8.87 m/s2 versus 9.807 m/s2 on Earth. In other words, a person on the surface of Venus will weigh 10% lighter than on our home planet. A more detailed study of the internal structure of the planet is not possible today. The data obtained to date is the result of mathematical calculations and radar scanning of the planet's surface.

The most interesting object on Venus is the planet's atmosphere

The first data obtained from photographs from space about the surface of Venus did not become a breakthrough in the study of the planet. The surface of Venus is hidden from view by dense layers of the atmosphere. It is this that is the decisive factor that shapes the planet’s topography in the absence of active volcanic activity on the planet. There are two forms of surface erosion here - wind and chemical. Material ejected as a result of volcanic eruptions enters the planet's atmosphere and there, transformed through chemical reactions, falls to the surface in the form of Venusian sediments.

The chemical composition of the planet is quite simple:

• carbon dioxide 96.5%;
• the amount of nitrogen does not exceed 3.5%.

Other gases in the planet's atmosphere are present in microscopic quantities. However, despite the almost complete absence of oxygen and hydrogen in the atmospheric layers, the planet has an ozone layer, which is located at an altitude of 100 km.

Venus's atmosphere is the densest among the terrestrial planets. Its density is 67 kg/m3. In other words, the lower layers of the atmosphere are a semi-liquid environment dominated by carbon dioxide. As a result of such high saturation of the troposphere, the atmospheric pressure at the surface of Venus is colossal, amounting to 93 bar. This roughly corresponds to the pressure on Earth that will be at a depth of 900 meters in the world's oceans. The high concentration of carbon dioxide in the planet's atmosphere has caused the greenhouse effect. As a result, the surface of the planet has a high temperature, which can reach 475 degrees Celsius. This is more than on Mercury, which is much closer to the Sun.

There is no need to talk about the presence of water on Venus under such atmospheric conditions. Dense clouds are composed of sulfuric acid and rain acid rain onto the surface of the planet, and the Venusian seas are lakes of sulfuric acid.

The winds on the surface of Venus are raging seriously. The entire atmosphere of the planet is one huge raging hurricane, rushing around the surface of the planet at a speed of 140 m/s. Accordingly, it is not difficult to imagine how strong the wind blows on the planet.

The atmosphere of Venus is the main difference from our planet. The existence of any life forms in conditions where the temperature reaches the melting point of lead is impossible. In addition, the high concentration of CO2 means that instead of water, the main liquid on the planet is sulfuric acid.

Upcoming plans to explore Venus

Venus, our closest cosmic neighbor, a bright and beautiful star in our sky, is in fact a real universal hell. The space exploration that man undertook in relation to Venus in the second half of the 20th century made it clear that Venus is a hostile environment for us. Over the course of 40 years, 30 spacecraft were launched to the “morning star”.

The research was mainly carried out within the framework of the Soviet program for studying the planet Venus and the American space program Mariner. The last spacecraft to complete the cycle of space exploration of the “morning star” were the European Venus Express probe and the Japanese Akatsuki probe, launched to Venus in 2005 and 2010, respectively.

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The planet closest to us has a very beautiful name, but the surface of Venus makes it clear that in fact there is nothing in its character that would resemble the goddess of love. This planet is sometimes called Earth's twin sister. However, the only thing they have in common is their similar sizes.

History of discovery

Even the smallest telescope can track the shift of the disk of this planet. This was first discovered by Galileo back in 1610. The atmosphere was noticed by Lomonosov in 1761, at the moment when it passed by the Sun. It is surprising that such a movement was predicted by calculations, so astronomers were looking forward to this event with special impatience. However, only Lomonosov drew attention to the fact that when the disks of the star and the planet “touched”, a barely noticeable glow appeared around the latter. The observer concluded that this effect arose as a result of the refraction of the Sun's rays in the atmosphere. He believed that the surface of Venus is covered with an atmosphere very similar to that of the earth.

Planet

This planet is located in second place from the Sun. At the same time, Venus is closer than other planets to Earth. Moreover, before space flights became a reality, it was almost impossible to find out about this celestial body. Very little was known:

• It is removed from the star at a distance of 108 million 200 thousand kilometers.
• A day on Venus lasts 117 Earth days.
• It completes a full revolution around our star in almost 225 Earth days.
• Its mass is 0.815% of the mass of the Earth, which is equal to 4.867 * 1024 kg.
• The acceleration of this planet is 8.87 m/s².
• The surface area of ​​Venus is 460.2 million square km.

The diameter of the planet's disk is 600 km less than the Earth's, amounting to 12,104 km. The force of gravity is almost the same as ours - our kilogram will weigh only 850 grams there. Because the planet's size, composition, and gravity are so similar to those of Earth, it is commonly referred to as "Earth-like."

The uniqueness of Venus is that it rotates in a different direction than other planets. Only Uranus “behaves” in a similar way. Venus, whose atmosphere is very different from ours, rotates around its axis in 243 days. The planet manages to complete a revolution around the Sun in 224.7 days, equal to ours. This makes the year on Venus shorter than a day. In addition, day and night on this planet change, but the season is always the same.

Surface

The surface of Venus is mostly hilly and almost flat plains, founded by volcanic eruptions. The remaining 20% ​​of the planet are giant mountains called Ishtar Land, Aphrodite Land, Alpha and Beta regions. These massifs consist mainly of basaltic lava. Many craters have been discovered in these areas, with an average diameter of more than 300 kilometers. Scientists quickly found an answer to the question of why it is impossible to find a smaller crater on Venus. The fact is that meteorites, which could leave a relatively small mark on the surface, simply do not reach it, burning up in the atmosphere.

The surface of Venus is rich in a variety of volcanoes, but it is not yet clear whether eruptions have ended on the planet. This question is of significant importance in the question of the evolution of the planet. The geology of the “twin” is still very poorly understood, but it provides a basic understanding of the structure and processes of formation of this celestial body.

It is still unknown whether the planet's core is a liquid substance or a solid substance. But scientists have found that it does not have electrical conductivity, otherwise Venus would have a magnetic field similar to ours. The absence of such activity remains a mystery to astronomers. The most popular point of view, which more or less explains this phenomenon, is that perhaps the process of solidification of the core has not yet begun, therefore convective jets generating a magnetic field cannot yet be born in it.

The temperature on Venus reaches 475 degrees. For a long time, astronomers could not find an explanation for this. However, today, after a lot of research, it is believed that this is to blame. According to calculations, if our planet moved just 10 million kilometers closer to the star, this effect would get out of control, as a result of which the Earth would simply warm up irreversibly and the death of all living things.

Scientists simulated a situation where the temperature on Venus was not so high, and found that then it would have oceans similar to those on Earth.

There are none on Venus that would need updating in a hundred million years. Judging by the available data, the planet's crust has been motionless for at least 500 million years. However, this does not mean that Venus is stable. Elements rise from its depths, heating the bark and softening it. Therefore, it is likely that the planet’s topography will undergo global changes.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere of this planet is very powerful, barely transmitting the light of the Sun. But this light is not like the one we see every day - these are just weak scattered rays. 97% carbon dioxide, almost 3% nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapor - this is what Venus “breathes”. The planet's atmosphere is very poor in oxygen, but there are enough various compounds for clouds to form from sulfuric acid and sulfur dioxide.

The lower layers of the atmosphere surrounding the planet are practically motionless, but the wind speed in the troposphere is most often above 100 m/s. Such hurricanes merge together, skirting the entire planet in just four of our days.

Research

Nowadays, the planet is explored not only by means of aircraft, but also by means of radio emission. The extremely unfavorable conditions on the planet make its study much more difficult. Nevertheless, over the past 47 years, 19 successful attempts have been made to send devices to the surface of this celestial body. In addition, six space stations have provided valuable information about our closest neighbor.

Since 2005, a ship has been in orbit around the planet, studying the planet and its atmosphere. Scientists hope to use it to discover more than one secret of Venus. Currently, the device has transmitted to Earth a large amount of information that will help scientists learn much more about the planet. For example, from their reports it became known that hydroxyl ions are present in the atmosphere of Venus. Scientists have no idea yet how this can be explained.

One of the questions that experts would like to get an answer to is: what kind of substance at an altitude of about 56-58 kilometers absorbs half of the ultraviolet rays?

Observation

At twilight, Venus is visible very well. Sometimes its sparkle is so bright that shadows are created from objects on Earth (like moonlight). Under suitable conditions, it can be observed even during the daytime.

• The age of the planet by cosmic standards is very small - about 500 million years.
• less than on Earth, gravity is lower, so a person would weigh less on this planet than at home.
• The planet has no satellites.
• A day on the planet is longer than a year.
• Despite its gigantic size, not a single crater on Venus is practically visible, since the planet is well hidden by clouds
• Chemical processes in clouds contribute to the formation of acids.

Now you know a lot of interesting things about the mysterious earthly “double”.