Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The possibility of life on Venus is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to Venus' proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no definitive evidence has been found of past or present life there. In the early 1960s, studies conducted via spacecraft demonstrated that the current Venusian environment is extreme compared to Earth's.
Venus is the second planet from the Sun.It is a terrestrial planet and is the closest in mass and size to its orbital neighbour Earth.Venus has by far the densest atmosphere of the terrestrial planets, composed mostly of carbon dioxide with a thick, global sulfuric acid cloud cover.
Because its orbit takes it between the Earth and the Sun, Venus as seen from Earth exhibits visible phases in much the same manner as the Earth's Moon. Galileo Galilei observed the phases of Venus in December 1610, an observation which supported Copernicus's then-contentious heliocentric description of the Solar System.
The surface of Venus is comparatively flat. When 93% of the topography was mapped by Pioneer Venus Orbiter, scientists found that the total distance from the lowest point to the highest point on the entire surface was about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi), about the same as the vertical distance between the Earth's ocean floor and the higher summits of the Himalayas.
The atmosphere of Venus is the very dense layer of gases surrounding the planet Venus. Venus's atmosphere is composed of 96.5% carbon dioxide and 3.5% nitrogen , with other chemical compounds present only in trace amounts. [ 1 ]
Astronomers have found a potential sign of life high in the atmosphere of neighboring Venus: hints there may be bizarre microbes living in the sulfuric acid-laden clouds of the hothouse planet.
Water on Venus is the hypothesis that water was once on the surface of the planet Venus. Early thoughts. Scientists and authors long proposed Venus was habitable, ...
The surface of Venus contains almost 1000 impact craters. However, unlike some planets in our system, Venus' thick atmosphere creates a strong shield that decelerates, flattens, and can fracture incoming projectiles. The Venusian surface is devoid of small craters (≤30–50 km in size) because of the effect the atmosphere has on small bodies.