Venus: Earth's Cloudy Twin
Credit & Copyright: Galileo
Spacecraft,
JPL,
NASA,
Copyright Calvin J. Hamilton
Explanation:
If Venus weren't so cloudy it would be more
similar to Earth. This picture by the
Galileo spacecraft
shows just how cloudy
Venus
is.
Venus
is very similar to
Earth in size
and mass - and so is sometimes referred to as Earth's sister planet
- but
Venus
has a quite different climate.
Venus'
thick clouds and closeness to the
Sun
(only
Mercury is closer) make it
the hottest planet - much hotter than the Earth. Humans could
not survive there, and no life of any sort has ever been found.
When
Venus is visible
it is usually the brightest object in the sky after the Sun and
the Moon. More than 20 spacecraft
have visited
Venus
including
Venera 9,
which landed on the surface, and
Magellan,
which used radar to peer through the clouds and make a map of
the surface. This visible light picture of Venus
was taken by the
Galileo spacecraft now
in orbit around Jupiter. Many things about Venus remain unknown,
including the cause of
mysterious bursts of radio waves.
Information:
Thursday, September 26 - A Total Lunar Eclipse
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
