VENUS IS EARTH´ S SISTER PLANET

It is a world almost of the same size as the Earth. Astronomers refer to Venus as Earth ´s sister planet. Both are similar in size, mass, density and volume. Both formed about the same time and condensed out of the same nebula. But the kinship ends here. Venus is different from the Earth. Venus, the planet closest to the Sun, is always hidden in a huge cloud layer , reflecting the sunlight. Astronomers thought that the clouds protected Venus from the Sun ( high surface temperatures on Mercury). Therefore Venus could be a mild world full of vapour reminding that of the earth 300 million years ago. But space probes revealed a vicious reality - the planet reminding of the Hell. A space observer would experience only heat and boiling of volcanoes, deadly for all living organisms. The high temperature is primarily due to a greenhouse effect.

A GREENHOUSE EFFECT

Sunlight passes through the atmosphere to heat the surface of the planet and ,unlike on the Earth , heat energy is not radiated out but it is trapped by the dense atmosphere of carbon dioxide and not allowed to escape to the space. Carbon dioxide works as a glass cover in a greenhouse. Actually, Venus should have had much higher surface temperature than just 465 °C. That is why there are sulphuric acid clouds which do not let 80 % of sunlight go through.

THE WORLD UPSIDEDOWN

A Venusian day is 243 Earth days and it is longer than its year of 225 days. Venus rotates from East to West , which happens in opposite direction than with other planets. A Venusian atmosphere rotates as well - it flies the planet round in 4 days.