“Earth’s evil twin” .. 6 strange facts about Venus: the day is longer than the year

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After the sun and the moon, Venus is the most brilliant thing in the sky, according to EarthSky, where ancient astronomers studied before telescopes. Venus was one of the five planets known to man in antiquity and considered divine, and its name comes from the Roman goddess of love.

However, according to Space.com, ancient stargazers believed that Venus had two stars: the morning star and the evening star, named after the times of the planet’s appearance.

The advent of the telescope and other technologies also allowed for a greater study of the planet. By the 1920s, it was confirmed that the planet was covered in thick clouds.

By the 1930s, it was full of carbon dioxide, and the book “Venus” asserts that these early discoveries led scientists to speculate that there must be plenty of water on this planet that could be habitable.

But with the advancement of science, this was not possible, as Venus is one of the most extreme places in the solar system, hence we show you the most unusual things about Venus.

6. Earth’s Evil Twin

Venus is one of the terrestrial planets, which means that it is made primarily of rocks with hard surfaces, and is the second closest planet to the sun and the astronomical neighborhood next to the Earth.

Depending on where Venus is in its orbit relative to the Earth, it could be as far away as 162 million miles or roughly 24 million miles.

Because Venus’ orbit is closer to the sun than Earth’s, the planet makes most of its appearances in the morning or early evening sky.

What also makes Venus interesting is its size. Venus is very similar to Earth in its mass, size, and density, with a radius of 3760.4 miles at the equator, which is about 95% the size of the Earth.

While its mass is 81.5%. Venus’ gravity works about 90% of Earth’s gravity.

All these similarities and its close location have led some to call Venus the “Earth’s twin”, but the European Space Agency gives a more apt epithet as the “evil twin of Earth”.

5. Go Sam

The telescope’s gorgeous cloudy atmosphere makes Venus look like a jewel in the sky, but you need to stay out of this astronomical luster as much as possible.

According to NASA, the atmosphere of Venus consists of 96% of carbon dioxide, which is understandably obscured by its surface, and at the same time, the clouds contain sulfuric acid.

The planet’s atmosphere is also very thick, which creates an incredible amount of atmospheric pressure, according to Space.com.

If you were to stand on Venus, you would experience 95 times the pressure one would feel at sea level on Earth, like diving 3,000 feet below sea level.

While NASA reported that Venus has unusual lightning, usually, lightning is produced by clouds containing water.

But on Venus, clouds of sulfuric acid somehow create lightning, and it’s the only planet known to do so.

4. The hottest planet in the solar system

Nowadays, there is a global movement to control greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, some gases when released into the atmosphere trap heat, which has the effect of raising global temperatures and causing environmental havoc.

On Venus, carbon dioxide accounts for 96% of its atmosphere, which in essence makes it volcanoes.

Space.com reports that the average temperature on the surface of Venus is 872 degrees Fahrenheit — hot enough to melt lead. This is hotter than Mercury, which is the closest planet to the Sun.

NASA asserts that this temperature makes Venus the hottest planet in the solar system outside the sun.

On Venus, carbon dioxide makes up 96% of its atmosphere, making its core a volcano. Space.com reports that the average temperature on Venus’ surface is 872 degrees, hot enough to melt lead.

What makes it hotter than Mercury, which is the closest planet to the sun, and NASA confirms that this temperature makes Venus the hottest planet in the solar system outside the sun.

3. It has no seasons

NASA explained that every planet experiences the seasons in different ways and to varying degrees, and the main reason for the seasons is the tilt of the planet’s axis.

Venus is only tilted by 2.6 degrees, which means that when the planet orbits the sun, both sides of Venus are exposed to the same thing all the time; Meaning, there are no seasons.

Another factor that prevents seasons on Venus is the atmosphere of greenhouse gases.

According to Universe Today, thick layers of carbon dioxide on Venus trap heat in such a way that it is extremely hot on Venus’ surface with no perceptible difference between its poles and the equator.

2. Rotates backward

One of the strangest characteristics of Venus is its rotation. Almost all planets, including Earth, rotate counterclockwise if you look down at the planet from the North Pole.

But Venus rotates in a clockwise direction, called retrograde, which means that if you were on Venus and you could see the sun through the dense atmosphere, the sun would rise in the west and set in the east.

Although it is not really understood why Venus rotates in the opposite direction, the Thames offers 3 possibilities.

One old hypothesis is that at some point in its history Venus was hit by an object that might have been the size of a planet, and the resulting catastrophe caused the planet to start spinning in the opposite direction.

The second theory is that geological work in the core of the planet caused friction, which caused the planet to spin backward.

The last theory is that the planet started in its progressive rotation, but due to various complications it slowed down over time before stabilizing in its retrograde rotation.

1. Today is longer than the year

Since Venus’ rotation is so slow, that means the usual centrifugal forces that make most planets appear a little compact, like oblate spheroids don’t play a role in Venus, it’s a near perfect sphere.

Even stranger, a year on Venus, i.e. the completion of one revolution around the Sun, is 224.7 Earth days.

In fact, a year and a day on Venus are roughly the same.

To explain the reasons for this slow rotation, the University of California at Riverside suggests that Venus is partly trapped in the sun.

This phenomenon occurs when a massive object holds a smaller object in gravity, and the result is that the same side of the object always faces the other.

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