Venus
Venus is the closest planet to Earth.
Venus is about the same size as Earth.
Venus is the most brilliant natural object in the night time sky.
Venus passes close to Earth in its orbit.
The same side of Venus is always facing Earth when the two planets pass in orbit.
Although Earth and Venus are close, Venus has been hard to observe because of its dense clouds which cover the surface of the planet.
Venus' atmosphere is mostly made up of carbon dioxide,with droplets of sulfuric acid in the upper clouds.
Venus is the hottest planet, reaching temperatures above Mercury, which is the closest planet to the sun.
The extremely high amount of carbon dioxide accounts for the high temperatures.
The large amount of carbon dioxide absorbs and traps the heat which creates the greenhouse effect on Venus.
The amount of heat on Venus' surface is hot enough to melt lead and rocks which faintly glow red from its own heat.
Radar images of Venus show the higher parts are rougher terrain than other parts.
The spacecraft Maggellan arrived on Venus in the early 1990's.
The Maggellan went around Venus every 3 hours while it mapped Venus.
Maggellan also found that there may be active volcanoes on the surface of Mercury and the surface may only be 400 million years old.
Venus is the second closest planet to the sun.
Venus' surface is covered with dents from meteor craters.
Galileo spacecraft flew by Venus in the early 1990's and found electromagnetic events that may be lightning. Scientists suggested that these events have a volcanic origin.
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