National Aeronautics

National Aeronauticsand
andSpace
SpaceAdministration
Administration

0 300,000,000 900,000,000 1,500,000,000 2,100,000,000 2,700,000,000 3,300,000,000 3,900,000,000 4,500,000,000 5,100,000,000 5,700,000,000 kilometers

Venus

www.nasa.gov
Venus and Earth are similar in size, mass, density, composi- Atmospheric lightning bursts, long suspected by scientists, were SIGNIFICANT DATES
tion, and gravity. There, however, the similarities end. Venus finally confirmed in 2007 by the European Venus Express orbiter. 650 AD — Mayan astronomers make detailed observations of
is covered by a thick, rapidly spinning atmosphere, creating a On Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn, lightning is associated with water Venus, leading to a highly accurate calendar.
scorched world with temperatures hot enough to melt lead and clouds, but on Venus, it is associated with clouds of sulfuric 1761–1769 — Two European expeditions to watch Venus cross
surface pressure 90 times that of Earth. Because of its proximity acid. in front of the Sun lead to the first good estimate of the Sun’s
to Earth and the way its clouds reflect sunlight, Venus appears to distance from Earth.
Radar images of the surface show wind streaks and sand dunes.
be the brightest planet in the sky. Although we cannot normally 1962 — NASA’s Mariner 2 reaches Venus and reveals the plan-
Craters smaller than 1.5 to 2 kilometers (0.9 to 1.2 miles) across
see through Venus’ thick atmosphere, NASA’s Magellan mission et’s extreme surface temperatures. It is the first spacecraft to
do not exist on Venus, because small meteors burn up in the
to Venus during the early 1990s used radar to image 98 percent send back information from another planet.
dense atmosphere before they can reach the surface.
of the surface, and the Galileo spacecraft used infrared mapping 1970 — The Soviet Union’s Venera 7 sends back 23 minutes of
to view mid-level cloud structure as it passed by Venus in 1990 It is thought that Venus was completely resurfaced by volcanic data from the surface of Venus. It is the first spacecraft to suc-
on the way to Jupiter. activity 300 to 500 million years ago. More than 1,000 volcanoes cessfully land on another planet.
or volcanic centers larger than 20 kilometers (12 miles) in diam- 1990–1994 — NASA’s Magellan spacecraft, in orbit around Ve-
Like Mercury, Venus can be seen periodically passing across
eter dot the surface. Volcanic flows have produced long, sinuous nus, uses radar to map 98 percent of the planet’s surface.
the face of the Sun. These “transits” of Venus occur in pairs with
channels extending for hundreds of kilometers. Venus has two 2005 — The European Space Agency launches Venus Express
more than a century separating each pair. Since the telescope
large highland areas — Ishtar Terra, about the size of Australia, to study the atmosphere and plasma environment of Venus
was invented, transits were observed in 1631, 1639; 1761, 1769;
in the north polar region; and Aphrodite Terra, about the size of from orbit. Venus Express will study the planet through at least
and 1874, 1882. On June 8, 2004, astronomers worldwide saw
South America, straddling the equator and extending for almost December 31, 2009. Japan plans to launch an orbiter in 2010
the tiny dot of Venus crawl across the Sun; the second in this
10,000 kilometers (6,000 miles). Maxwell Montes, the highest to study Venus’ climate. Combining the two sets of data should
pair of early 21st-century transits occurs June 6, 2012.
mountain on Venus and comparable to Mount Everest on Earth, greatly enhance our knowledge of the planet.
The atmosphere consists mainly of carbon dioxide, with clouds is at the eastern edge of Ishtar Terra.
of sulfuric acid droplets. Only trace amounts of water have been ABOUT THE IMAGES
Venus has an iron core that is approximately 3,000 kilometers
detected in the atmosphere. The thick atmosphere traps the 1 2 3 1 A 1979 Pioneer
(1,200 miles) in radius. Venus has no global magnetic field —
Sun’s heat, resulting in surface temperatures higher than 470 de-
though its core iron content is similar to that of Earth, Venus Venus image of Ve-
grees Celsius (880 degrees Fahrenheit). Probes that have landed
rotates too slowly to generate the type of magnetic field that 4 nus’ clouds seen in
on Venus have not survived more than a few hours before being
Earth has. ultraviolet.
destroyed by the incredible temperatures. Sulfur compounds are
5 6 2 This composite
abundant in Venus’ clouds. The corrosive chemistry and dense,
FAST FACTS global view created
moving atmosphere cause significant surface weathering and
erosion. Namesake Roman goddess of love and beauty from Magellan radar images is color-coded to represent varying
Mean Distance from the Sun 108.21 million km elevations.
The Venusian year (orbital period) is about 225 Earth days long, (67.24 million mi) 3 This Magellan radar image reveals impact craters.
while the planet’s rotation period is 243 Earth days, making a Orbit Period 224.70 Earth days
Venus day about 117 Earth days long. Venus rotates retrograde 4 Magellan radar images were used to create this three-
Orbit Eccentricity (Circular Orbit = 0) 0.0068
(east to west) compared with Earth’s prograde (west to east) ro- dimensional view of Venus’ Maat Mons volcano (vertical scale is
Orbit Inclination to Ecliptic 3.39 deg
tation. Seen from Venus, the Sun would rise in the west and set exaggerated 22.5 times).
Inclination of Equator to Orbit 177.3 deg
in the east. As Venus moves forward in its solar orbit while slowly Rotation Period 243.02 Earth days (retrograde) 5 This false-color composite image by Venus Express shows
rotating “backwards” on its axis, the top level of cloud layers Successive Sunrises 116.75 days (left) upper clouds in ultraviolet and the blue part of the spectrum
zips around the planet every four Earth days, driven by hurri- Equatorial Radius 6,052 km (3,760 mi) on the planet’s daylit side, and spiral cloud structures, lower at-
cane-force winds traveling at about 360 kilometers (224 miles) Mass 0.815 of Earth’s mosphere, night side in infrared (right).
per hour. The wind speeds within the clouds decrease with Density 5.24 g/cm3 (0.95 of Earth’s) 6 This view of the transit of Venus of 2004 was taken in ultra-
cloud height, and winds at the surface are estimated to be just a Gravity 0.91 of Earth’s violet light by NASA’s Transition Region and Coronal Explorer
few kilometers per hour. How this atmospheric “super-rotation” Atmosphere Primary Component carbon dioxide spacecraft.
forms and is maintained continues to be a topic of scientific Temperature at Surface 470 deg C (880 deg F)
investigation. Known Moons 0 FOR MORE INFORMATION
Rings 0 solarsystem.nasa.gov/venus

LG-2009-09-566-HQ — JPL 400-1344E 09/09