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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.
The permanent cloud cover means that although Venus is closer than Earth to the Sun, it receives less sunlight on the ground, with only 10% of the received sunlight reaching the surface, [121] resulting in average daytime levels of illumination at the surface of 14,000 lux, comparable to that on Earth "in the daytime with overcast clouds". [122]
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 very first visible-light images of Venus' surface from space have been captured by NASA's Parker Solar Probe, and it could help researchers piece together the mysteries of the distant planet.
The surface of Venus is comparatively very flat. When 93% of the topography was mapped by Pioneer Venus, [15] scientists found that the total distance from the lowest point to the highest point on the entire surface was about 13 kilometres (8 mi), while on the Earth the distance from the basins to the Himalayas is about
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.
NASA is gearing up for its Parker Solar Probe to do a final flyby of Venus on Wednesday on its way to making history as the closest any human-made object has ever been to the sun. Parker will use ...
At the subsolar point the bow shock stands 1900 km (0.3 R v, where R v is the radius of Venus) above the surface of Venus. This distance was measured in 2007 near the solar activity minimum. [47] Near the solar activity maximum it can be several times further from the planet. [46]