Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Designed specifically to study the planet's climate, Akatsuki is the first meteorology satellite to orbit Venus (the first for a planet other than Earth). [ 103 ] [ 104 ] One of its five cameras known as the "IR2" will be able to probe the atmosphere of the planet underneath its thick clouds, in addition to its movement and distribution of ...
Venus is one of the four terrestrial planets in the Solar System, meaning that it is a rocky body like Earth. It is similar to Earth in size and mass and is often described as Earth's "sister" or "twin". [33] Venus is very close to spherical due to its slow rotation. [34]
The geology of solar terrestrial planets mainly deals with the geological aspects of the four terrestrial planets of the Solar System – Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars – and one terrestrial dwarf planet: Ceres. Earth is the only terrestrial planet known to have an active hydrosphere.
It is sometimes called Earth's "sister planet" due to their similar size, gravity, and bulk composition (Venus is both the closest planet to Earth and the planet closest in size to Earth). The surface of Venus is covered by a dense atmosphere and presents clear evidence of former violent volcanic activity.
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.
As astronomers plan for searches for life on planets outside our solar system, a major method is to look for chemical signatures that can only be made by biological processes, called biosignatures.
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.
This means the habitable zone was stretched from Venus to Earth (and possibly to Mars), before eventually Solar maxima began creating greenhouse gases in Venus’ atmosphere, making the atmosphere thicker, evaporating away all liquid water on the planets surface. Studies have proven that Venus needed liquid water three billion years ago to be ...