![]() One more trick of perspective: how Venus looks through binoculars or a telescope. But most of the time the two planets are farther apart Mercury, the innermost planet, actually spends more time in Earth’s proximity than Venus. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks saw Venus in two guises: first in one orbital position (seen in the morning), then another (your “evening” Venus), just at different times of the year.Īt its nearest to Earth, Venus is some 38 million miles (about 61 million kilometers) distant. That’s where the trick of perspective comes in.īecause Venus’ orbit is closer to the Sun than ours, the two of them – from our viewpoint – never stray far from each other. The ancients, therefore, gave it great importance in their cultures, even thinking it was two objects: a morning star and an evening star. From Earth, Venus is the brightest object in the night sky after our own Moon. The planet is nearly as big around as Earth – 7,521 miles (12,104 kilometers) across, versus 7,926 miles (12,756 kilometers) for Earth. Our nearness to Venus is a matter of perspective. There is much, it would seem, that she can teach us. But the questions they raise, along with Venus’ vanished ocean, its violently volcanic surface, and its hellish history, make a compelling case for a return to our temperamental sister planet. None of these findings provide compelling evidence for the existence of life in Venus’ clouds. Some of the Russian Venera probes did, indeed, detect particles in Venus’ lower atmosphere about a micron in length – roughly the same size as a bacterium on Earth. These handy chemical cloaks would also absorb potentially damaging ultraviolet light and re-radiate it as visible light. Astrobiologists note that ring-shaped linkages of sulfur atoms, known to exist in Venus’ atmosphere, could provide microbes with a kind of coating that would protect them from sulfuric acid. Although it's much less likely, another possibility considered by scientists who study astrobiology is that these streaks could be made up of microbial life, Venus-style. ![]() The most likely explanations focus on fine particles, ice crystals, or even a chemical compound called iron chloride. They also have the odd habit of absorbing ultraviolet radiation. Scientists are so far unable to explain why these streaks remain stubbornly intact, even amid hurricane-force winds. And atmospheric pressure at that height is similar to what we find on Earth’s surface.Īt the tops of Venus’ clouds, whipped around the planet by winds measured as high as 224 miles (360 kilometers) per hour, we find another transformation. Thirty miles up (about 50 kilometers), temperatures range from 86 to 158 Fahrenheit (30 to 70 Celsius), a range that, even at its higher-end, could accommodate Earthly life, such as “extremophile” microbes. It’s the only planet named after a female god. Venus, the third brightest object after the Sun and Moon, was named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. They named the objects after their most important gods. The ancient Romans could easily see seven bright objects in the sky: the Sun, the Moon, and the five brightest planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn). Temperature, air pressure, and chemistry are much more congenial up high, in those thick, yellow clouds. ![]() And while it might sound absurd, we can’t rule out life on Venus entirely. By studying why our neighbor world went in such a different direction with regard to habitability, we could find out what could make other worlds right. The ingredients are all there, or at least, they used to be. Asked if the surface of Venus is likely to be life-bearing today, we can give a quick answer: a hard “no.”įurther, Venus may hold lessons about what it takes for life to get its start – on Earth, in our solar system, or across the galaxy. The present-day surface of volcanic rock is blasted by high temperatures and pressures. ![]() A runaway greenhouse effect turned all surface water into vapor, which then leaked slowly into space. It might once have been a habitable ocean world, like Earth, but that was at least a billion years ago. In some ways it is more an opposite of Earth than a twin: Venus spins backward, has a day longer than its year, and lacks any semblance of seasons. The atmosphere is so thick that, from the surface, the Sun is just a smear of light. Our nearest planetary neighbor, the second planet from the Sun, has a surface hot enough to melt lead. But pull up a bit closer, and Venus turns hellish. ![]() It's a cloud-swaddled planet named for a love goddess, often called Earth’s twin. ![]()
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