The Venus Page
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About Venus
The planet Venus is the second planet from the Sun and is easily seen from Earth in either the eastern sky in early morning or the western sky in the evening. The planet is covered by a dense layer of clouds so that we cannot see its surface. Venus is similar to Earth in size but other than that it has many differences. For one, the planet rotates from east to west instead of from west to east as the Earth does. Also it rotates on its axis very slowly so that its day is equal to 243 of our days. Venus takes 225 earth days to revolve around the Sun. Venus has been visited by more than 20 space probes such as Mariner, Pioneer Venus and Magellan from the United States and several Venera landers sent by the former Soviet Union. There was also the Venus Express mission sent up by the European Space Agency.
For more information on Earth's neighboring planet, please visit the following websites below.
1. The Nine Planets - Venus Facts
4. Mariner V: Plasma and Magnetic Fields Observed Near Venus
5. Solar System Exploration - Venus Overview
7. Venera - D/ESA Permanent Mission to Russia
News Stories on Venus
1. Key Molecule Discovered in Venus's Atmosphere - May 15, 2008
2. New Map Hints at Venus's Wet, Volcanic Past - July 14, 2009
3. NASA Funded Research Suggests Venus is Geologically Alive - Scientists have detected for the first time clear signs of recent lava flows on surface of Venus - April 8, 2010.
4. Was Venus Once a Habitable Planet? - ESA's Venus Express is helping scientists investigate whether Venus once had oceans - June 24, 2010.
5. A Magnetic Surprise from Venus - Similar to planet Earth, it has been found that there is evidence for magnetic reconnection in Venus' induced magnetotail - April 10, 2012.
6. Aurora on Venus Versus Solar Activity - Researchers studying the atmosphere of Venus discover auroral activity in the Venusian atmosphere - November 14, 2014.
7. Study Suggests Active Volcanism on Venus - Data from the Venus Express spacecraft shows that there is evidence that some volcanoes on Venus may still be active - June 18, 2015.
8. A Frigid Surprise at Venus' Poles - European Space Agency finds that Venus' poles are more frigid than anywhere on Earth - April 20, 2016.
9. Venus May Have Been Habitable, NASA Climate Modeling Suggests - Venus may have had a liquid water ocean and habitable surface temperatures early in its history according to NASA computer modeling - August 11, 2016.
10. Could Dark Streaks in Venus' Clouds be Microbial Life? - There is a possibility that dark streaks in the Venusian atmosphere that appear to absorb ultraviolet radiation could be evidence of microbial life. A proposed mission to Venus called Venera D may find the answer. - January 5, 2017.
11. Scientists Find Evidence That Venus Has Active Volcanoes - The latest reserch on Venus led by the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) indicates that there are lava flows on Venus that are maybe only a few years old which means that the second planet from the Sun could have active volcanoes today. - January 6, 2020.
12. Astronomers Spy Phosphine on Venus, a Potential Sign of Life - Scientists studying Venus detect the gas phosphine in that planet's atmosphere which may be being produced by microbial life. - September 18, 2020.
News Reports