Since Venus takes 225 Earth days to go around the Sun, but takes 243 Earth days to rotate on its axis. A day on Venus is longer than a year. Weird!
Venus was the Roman goddess of love and beauty. The Greek equivalent is Aphrodite (heard of the word 'aphrodisiac'?!). The planet was probably named Venus because it is the brightest of the planets and looks very beautiful in the evening or morning sky.
The atmosphere of Venus contains a large amount of carbon dioxide, which traps heat in the same way as the infamous greenhouse effect here on Earth. As a result, the surface of Venus is very, very hot; the surface temperature is about 500oC
Other poisonous gases in the atmosphere would make it a very unpleasant place to visit. Any visiting astronauts would be roasted and rained on by sulphuric acid. |
