Venus – Earth’s “Twin”
Venus is nearly the same size as Earth, so it is often called Earth’s “twin”. But it is nothing at all likes our world. Venus’s atmosphere is full of poisonous gases. Its clouds contain a chemical strong enough to dissolve metal! And the clouds on Venus are so thick that cameras can’t see the planet’s surface.
High in Venus’s atmosphere, powerful windstorms are raging. Venus’s windstorms are much worse than storms on Earth. Lightning flashes in the sky as often as 20 times a minute.
Venus is the second closest planet to the sun. This makes it extremely hot and dry. As seen from Earth, Venus is brighter than all the other planets and stars. It is so bright that it can sometimes be seen in the daytime! A year on Venus is as long as 225 Earth days. Like Mercury, Venus has no moons.
Scientists once thought the planet Venus would be much like Earth, but warmer. They were wrong. Venus is extremely hot, and its atmosphere is very heavy. Scientists have used many space probes to study Venus, including the Soviet Vanera probes, the U.S. Mariner and Magellan probes, and a European Space Agency probe named Venus Express.
Picture Credit : Google
