What Do You Know About Venus?
Venus is dubbed after the Roman goddess of the same name. What did the ancient Romans worship Venus for?
- Venus was a primary goddess in the Roman pantheon, equivalent to the ancient Greek goddess Aphrodite.
Approximately how many volcanoes are scattered across the surface of Venus?
- Venus has more volcanos on its surface than any other planet, with more than 1,600 volcanic peaks, most of which scientists believe are dormant.
How long does one day on Venus last, compared to Earth?
- Because Venus rotates slowly, it takes the equivalent of over 200 days on Earth for the planet to entirely rotate and complete a full Venus day.
Which planet in the Solar System is the closest in size to Venus?
- Earth and Venus share many similarities, including being of an equal size.
What level can the temperature reach on Venus' surface?
- A NASA scientist has said that you could melt lead on the surface of Venus!
Venus has a higher air pressure than Earth does— approximately how much higher is it?
- The air pressure on Venus would feel heavy; very similar to how the pressure feels if you are 0.5 miles underwater.
Once a century, we can see Venus crossing in front of the sun twice. How many years span between each crossing?
- Venus is one of the only two planets that we can see crossing in front of the Sun. And because of Earth's orbit in comparison to Venus', we get to see two crossings 8 years apart— with the next one coming in 2117.
What was the name of the ancient mathematician who first discovered that Venus was the bright object people saw in both the morning and the evening?
- Until Pythagoras' discovery, ancient civilizations like the Babylonians and Egyptians believed that the incredibly bright stars they saw in the evening and early morning were different entities— but it was all Venus!
Venus is a windy planet. What speed can some of the fastest Venusian winds reach?
- These incredibly fast winds primarily exist in the middle cloud layer of the planet, exceeding the windspeed of Earth's worst tornados.
Who was the first person to witness and record the visible phases of Venus, as the planet waxes and wanes just like Earth's Moon?
- Venus can be seen to travel from crescent to gibbous to full and back, appearing to shift through familiar phases.
