My Science School

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

Earth

Earth is a watery planet. More than two-thirds of Earth’s surface is covered with water. That’s good for all the living things in our world because animals and plants need water to live. Animals and plants live almost everywhere on Earth.

Earth is the third planet from the sun, and air surrounds it. The air is made up of gases, such as oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. These gases are needed for almost all living things to survive. Human beings breathe in oxygen. Plants need carbon dioxide.

If you look at a globe, you will find the North Pole on one end and the South Pole on the other. Earth looks like a ball, but it is actually a little flatter at the North and South poles.

Earth travels 958 million kilometres on its journey around the sun. It takes about 365 days for Earth to orbit the sun once. That’s why there are about 365 days in an Earth year.

Picture Credit : Google