Venus
The next planet in out series is Venus. There is no one who is credited with the discovery of Venus. Venus is the brightest of the five planets that can be seen in the night sky without the use of a telescope. Venus was named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. Venus and Earth are almost the same size, have about the same mass, and have a similar composition. They are also neighboring planets. However, Venus has an atmosphere that is about 100 times thicker than Earth’s and has surface temperatures that are extremely hot. Venus rotates backwards compared to Earth and the other planets.
The atmosphere of Venus is about 90 times more massive than Earth’s atmosphere. It is mostly carbon dioxide gas, with some nitrogen and a small amount of water vapor. Venus also has a thick layer of sulfuric acid clouds. The sulfur in the clouds gives Venus its yellowish appearance. The average distance of Venus from the sun is 67,237,910 miles or 108,208,930 km. Since Venus travels in an elliptical orbit around the sun, its distance from the sun varies throughout its year from 66,782,000 miles (107,476,000 km) to 67,693,000 miles (108,942,000 km). A day on Venus lasts for 243 Earth days or 5,832 hours! A day on Earth is 23.943 hours. Venus orbits around the sun once every 0.615 Earth years, or once every 224.7 Earth days. Venus travels at an average speed of 78,341 miles per hour or 126,077 kilometers per hour in its orbit around the sun.
