Venus, one of the most brightest and visible planets from Earth, gets its name accordingly from the Greek Goddess of Love. Venus is the closest planet to earth and is also similar in size. Venus approaches within 25 million miles from earth at its closest point (40million km). That sounds large but not when you consider the fact that the length of this solar system is approximately 3.7 billion miles! Even though Venus looks like a beautiful yellow planet, it is one of the most hostile planets in the solar system. The surface temperature can reach over 900 degrees F. (480 C)!

Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system because the atmosphere in Venus consists of dense gases and mostly Carbon dioxide (96%) which traps the heat inside. Think of it as the ultimate greenhouse effect. The dense atmosphere also helps to reflect sunlight, which makes it the most brightest planet, but there is also 100% cloud cover, which allows for the reflection of light. Venus is also covered by an atmosphere of sulfur dioxide, which helps to explain the yellow color. As a result of this sulfur dioxide, Venus is covered with clouds of sulfuric acid and it even rains sulfuric acid when it condenses! Remember, sulfuric acid is one of the strongest acids found on Earth. Luckily, the sulfuric acid breaks down before it reaches the surface because of the extreme heat.

This is a computer generated view of Venus's surface. It is mostly lava because of the extreme heat of the surface. also in this picture is Sif Mons one of Venus's volcanos

Chance of Life on Venus:

There is a very low probability of life existing on Venus because of the extreme heat. Not only would the heat prevent life from developing, the atmospheric pressure on Venus is so strong, it would easily crush any living organism found on earth. Also water is only found as vapor on Venus.

Exploration:

The Soviet Union managed to send several satellites called the Venera series into Venus. Some were destroyed easily and the Venera 4 was the first to send back data before succumbing to Venus's hostile environment. The Venera 7 actually landed on the surface and sent the first spectacular images of Venus' surface.

The United States sent the Mariner series of satellites to explore Venus and also managed to send back data of its atmospheric contents. The Magellan spacecraft, launched in August 1990 was of America's most successful ventures to Venus. It revealed many features of Venus with high-resolution radar images and orbited Venus over 15,000 times and mapped over 98% of the surface. The Magellan on October 12, 1994 finally succumbed to its death as it burned up in Venus' atmosphere.

	These images were obtained on 22nd and 25th of October 1975 by the Venera 9 and 10 lander.
	This is a picture of Venus's surface taken by the spacecraft Venera 13. The Venera 13 Lander touched down on Venus on March 3 1982
	Picture of Venus's surface taken from the second Venus probeto transmit color images, the Venera 14. Venera 14 touched down on May 5 1982

Another Interesting Fact about Venus

Venus completes one orbit around the sun in approximately 225 days (earth days). However one day in Venus lasts 5832 earth hours! That means it completes one rotation in 243 days, which is longer than the time it takes Venus to orbit the sun! Venus also has many volcanoes. However, it is unknown whether they are still active. One of the volcanoes on Venus, the Maat Mons, rises over 5 miles above the surface (8.5 km).

Computer generated views of Venu's Volcano, Maat Mons

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