After Mercury, at a distance of 108 million kilometers from the sun, follows Venus, named after the goddess of love and at first glance the similarity to our earth is striking. At least in terms of mass, 82 percent of the earth's mass, and density, 52.4 grams per cubic centimeter, as well as the radius, 12,100 kilometers.
But under the dense cloud cover, which reaches up to a height of 50 kilometers, the goddess shows her dark side. Here sulfuric acid and chlorine float through the Venus air, while the atmosphere consists mainly of carbon dioxide and to a small extent, 35 percent, nitrogen.
The mass of Venus's atmosphere is about 90 times that of the earth's atmosphere. At the surface there is a pressure of 92 bar, as much as at 900 meters sea depth here on earth. The density of the atmosphere at the surface is about 50 times as high as on earth. Around 90 percent of the atmosphere reaches a height of 28 kilometers. In this dense haze layer there are repeated flashes of lightning. At an altitude of 24 kilometers, the atmosphere at a pressure of 17.7 bar, 17.7 times the air pressure on the earth's surface, consists of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and water vapor, a mixture that is responsible for a greenhouse effect and is perhaps also a warning to us.
The heat on the planet can hardly escape and heats the planet to temperatures of up to 450 degrees, which is not uncommon on the surface with its red-hot ground. The surface makes a largely flat to hilly impression, but on the northern hemisphere a high plateau of 3200 kilometers in length and 1600 kilometers in width was discovered, which is almost 5000 meters higher than the surrounding area and at the edges of which three large groups of works rise up to 12,000 meters above the ground level of the Venus. In addition, a 250 km wide and at least 1500 km long fissure system was found in which there is a fissure about 65 km deep and about 400 km long.
A Venus day lasts 243 earth days, a year 225 earth days. Our neighbor is between 38 and 109 million kilometers away from us.
Another special feature is that the sun grows on the Venus in the west up and in the east it goes down.
Some theories assume that Mercury was once the moon of Venus. This would explain why the two planets are the only ones in our solar system without moons.
You can read more about Venus in this article.
