♀Venus
The brightest planet in the night sky, known as the "Morning Star" and "Evening Star." Earth's twin, hiding a 460°C inferno beneath thick clouds.
- Distance from Sun
- 0.72 AU (about 108.2 million km)
- Diameter
- 12,104 km (0.95× Earth)
- Orbital period
- 225 days
- Rotation period
- 243 days (retrograde)
- Surface pressure
- ~92 atm (92× Earth)
- Surface temp.
- ~465°C
- Moons
- None
Science
The scienceVenus is closest to Earth in size and mass, earning it the nickname "Earth's twin," yet its conditions are the exact opposite. A thick carbon-dioxide atmosphere drives a runaway greenhouse effect that pushes its surface temperature to about 465°C, making it the hottest planet in the Solar System. Its atmospheric pressure reaches about 92 times that of Earth (~92 atmospheres) — equal to the crushing pressure some 900 m deep in Earth's ocean, enough to flatten a person standing on the surface. This is why the Soviet landers that reached Venus in the 1970s and 80s survived only an hour or two before the heat and pressure destroyed them. It spins backwards (clockwise) and so slowly that a Venusian day is longer than its year. Shining brighter than anything but the Sun and Moon, it glows as the "Morning Star" in the western sky after sunset or the eastern sky before dawn.
Name & Myth
The story behind the nameBecause it shines so dazzlingly beautiful, Venus was given in the West the name of the goddess of love and beauty (the Greek Aphrodite). In East Asia it was long thought to be two different stars: the "Evening Star" when it rose in the west at dusk, and the "Morning Star" when it rose in the east at dawn. Matched to Metal among the Five Elements, it was called "Geum-seong," the Metal Star.