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Sun Mercury
Venus Earth
Mars Jupiter
Saturn Uranus
Neptune Pluto
SUMMARY
| Venus, named after the Roman goddess of beauty, is
the second planet from the sun. Venus is known for its thick layer of clouds
covering its surface. These clouds reflect light very well, making Venus very easy
to spot in the night sky from Earth. Venus is the second brightest object in the
night sky after the moon. |
Composition
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Venus is composed mostly of rock. The surface
of Venus is a charred desert, because of the intense heat trapped by the atmosphere.
The surface has several large craters, but very few small craters. This is
because Venus' thick atmosphere protects the surface from smaller meteors.
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Atmosphere
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| Venus' atmosphere is composed of about 97 percent
carbon dioxide and about 3 percent nitrogen, with small amounts of oxygen, hydrogen, and
sulfur. Life as we know it could not survive in Venus' atmosphere. The clouds
covering Venus are very thick layers of sulfuric acid droplets. These clouds let the heat
from the sun in, but do not let it out, trapping heat in the atmosphere below like a giant
oven. Because of this, Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system, even though
it is not the closest to the sun. Temperatures on Venus can reach over 900 degrees,
much hotter than a typical cooking oven. |
Size
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Venus is very similar in size to Earth. Its diameter
is 7,520 miles, only 406 miles less than Earth's.
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Orbit
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| Venus is the only planet in our solar system that
rotates East to West, opposite of most other planets and moons. Venus revolves
around the sun quicker than Earth because it is closer to the sun. A year on Venus
takes about 225 Earth days. But Venus rotates very slowly. A day on Venus is
longer than a year, taking about 243 Earth days. |
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