Surface of Venus: area, temperature, description of the planet

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 her character that would remind us of the goddess of love. Sometimes this planet is called the twin sister of the Earth. However, the only thing that makes them related is similar dimensions.

History of the discovery

Even in the smallest telescope, you can track the shift of the disk of this planet. This was first discovered by Galileo in the distant 1610. The atmosphere of this planet was noticed by Lomonosov in 1761, the moment she passed the Sun. Surprisingly, such a displacement was predicted with the help of calculations, so astronomers were waiting for this event with special impatience. However, only Lomonosov drew attention to the fact that with the "contact" of the discs of the star and the planet around the latter, there was hardly noticeable radiance. The observer concluded that such an effect arose as a result of refraction of the sun's rays in the atmosphere. He believed that the surface of Venus is covered by an atmosphere very similar to that of the earth.

Planet

From the Sun this planet is located in second place. At the same time, Venus is closer to other planets to Earth. At the same time, before flights to space became a reality, almost nothing was known about this celestial body. There was very little known:

• It is removed from the star to a distance of 108 million 200 thousand kilometers.
• The day on Venus lasts 117 earth days.
• A complete revolution around our star, it performs almost 225 terrestrial days.
• Its mass is 0.815% of the Earth's mass, which is 4.867 * 1024 kg.
• Acceleration of this planet is 8.87 m / s².
• The surface area of Venus is 460.2 million square kilometers.

The diameter of the planet's disk is less than the earth's distance by 600 km, is 12,104 km. Gravity is almost the same as ours - our kilogram will weigh only 850 grams. Since the size, composition and gravity of the planet are very similar to terrestrial parameters, it is usually called "earth-like".

The uniqueness of Venus is that it rotates in the wrong direction to which other planets are making it. Similarly, only Uranus "leads" itself. Around its axis Venus, the atmosphere of which is very different from ours, turns around for 243 days. Turnover around the Sun the planet manages to make in 224.7 days, equal to ours. This makes the year on Venus shorter than the day. In addition, day and night on this planet are changing, but the time of year 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. These arrays consist mainly of basaltic lava. In these areas, many craters have been found, whose average diameter is more than 300 kilometers. Scientists quickly found the answer to the question of why it is impossible to find a crater on Venus smaller. The fact is that meteorites, which could leave a relatively small trace in the surface, simply do not reach it, burning in the atmosphere.

The surface of Venus is rich in various volcanoes, but it is not yet clear whether the eruption has ended on the planet. This issue is of great importance in the evolution of the planet. The geology of the "twins" has so far been poorly studied, but it gives the basic understanding of the structure and processes of the formation of this celestial body.

It is still unknown whether the core of the planet is a liquid substance or a solid substance. But the scientists found out that it does not have electrical conductivity, otherwise Venus would have a magnetic field similar to ours. The absence of such activity is still a mystery to astronomers. The most popular point of view, which more or less explains this phenomenon, is that, perhaps, the process of hardening the core has not yet begun, because convective jets that generate a magnetic field can not 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, to date, after a lot of research, it is believed that the greenhouse effect is to blame . According to calculations, if our planet approached only 10 million kilometers closer to the light, this effect would get out of control, as a result of which there would simply be an irreversible warming up of the Earth and the death of all living things.

Scientists modeled the situation when the temperature on Venus was not so high, and found out that then it would have had similar terrestrial oceans.

On Venus, there are no lithospheric plates that would need to be renewed in a hundred million years. Judging from the available data, the planet's crust is at least 500 million years stationary. However, this does not mean that Venus is stable. From its depth, the elements heating up the bark, softening it, rise. Therefore, it is likely that the planet's relief is expecting global changes.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere of this planet is very powerful, barely misses the light of the Sun. But this light is not the same as what we see every day - these are only weak scattered rays. 97% of carbon dioxide, almost 3% of nitrogen, oxygen, inert gases and water vapor - this is what "breathes" Venus. The atmosphere of the planet is very poor in oxygen, but various compounds are enough to make clouds of sulfuric acid and sulfur dioxide.

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

Research

Today, the planet is explored not only by means of aircraft, but also by radio emission. Extremely unfavorable conditions on the planet make it very difficult to study it. Nevertheless, during the last 47 years, 19 successful attempts were made to send vehicles to the surface of this celestial body. In addition, the trajectory of six space stations allowed us to obtain valuable information about our nearest neighbor.

Since 2005, in the orbit of the planet is a ship that is studying the planet and its atmosphere. Scientists expect with his help to discover more than one secret of Venus. At present, the apparatus has transmitted to the Earth a large amount of information that will help scientists learn about the planet much more. For example, it became known from their reports that hydroxyl ions are present in the atmosphere of Venus. Scientists do not yet know how this can be explained.

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

Observation

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

Interesting Facts

• The age of the planet by space standards is very small - about 500 million years.
• The size of Venus is less than terrestrial, gravity is lower, so a person would weigh less on this planet than at home.
• The planet has no satellites.
• The day on the planet is longer than a year.
• Despite the giant size, no one crater on Venus is almost invisible, because the planet is well concealed by clouds
• Chemical processes in the clouds contribute to the formation of acids.

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