A thick CO, atmosphere with a surface pressure 92 times that of Earth’s atmosphere hides the planet’s surface from viewPhysical properties of Venus” Mass 4.870 x 10™ kilograms = 0.815 My Mean radius 6.0519 x 10° meters = 0.949 Re Mean mass density 5,244 kilograms per cubic meter Rotation period 243.025 Earth days, retrograde Orbital period 224.7 Earth days rk Mean distance from Sun 1.08157 x 10!! meters = 0.723 AU Age 4.6x 10? years Atmosphere 96 percent carbon dioxide, 3.5 percent nitrogen Surface pressure 92 bars Surface temperature 735 degrees kelvin 462'C . 9 5 Magnetic field strength less than 3 x 10° tesla or 10° ByVenus Atmospheric Missions Mariner 10 — Fly-by in 1973 Pioneer Venus — 5 probes in 1978 Vega 1 and 2 —2 probes in 1985 Galileo — Fly-by in 1990 Europe’s Venus Express (orbits in April 2006) Messenger (fly-bys October 2006 & June 20077. Venus: The veiled planet Properties of the Atmosphere: Pages 210 - 217 © Venus is the brightest planet in the sky. It orbits the Sun inside Earth’s orbit, appearing in the evening or morning hours and never in the middle of the night. o No human eye has ever gazed on the surface of Venus, which is forever hidden by a thick overcast of impenetrable clouds. ° The deadly efficient greenhouse effect of a thick, carbon dioxide atmosphere has scorched Venus’s surface, raising its temperature to 735 degrees kelvin. © The surface of Venus lies under a crushing atmosphere whose surface pressure is 92 times that on Earth. © The circulation of the dense atmosphere on Venus evens out temperature variations on the ground, and seasons are absent as well. © The pale yellow clouds of Venus are composed of concentrated sulfuric acid droplets. © Tt takes only 4 days for the high-flying clouds to move once ahout Venus, blown by fierce, rapid winds, but the slow winds near the surface rotate with the planet, once every 243 days. o There is no detectable magnetic field on Venus, but its dense atmosphere deflects the solar wind.meet elo as Concentration Pam CR ONO eee eae feor 96.4+ 1.03% NA i 3 £0. a HO t O; i yal Ar eee poy sde3) nS 4.3+5.5 =i se SO; 86 + d 2 186 pS oe any Earth-based spectroscopy” co 5x 10-9 HCl CoS ae HF Ua Maa err dae NH, myTemperature of Venusian Atmosphere 100 r r T T r r Magellan Orbit 3213. 90 Date: § October 1991 J Latitude: 67N LTST: 22:05 80 3-Sigma Uncertainty in Red 7 — 7 4 t z Cloud Tops < 60 4 [— 58 km [52.5 km 50 45 km = 100°C 7 Cloud Tops ‘9 260 K=-13°C (G°F) S, Fo 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Temperature, K Jon it. Jenkins 1 May 1995The “Greenhouse Effect” on Venus a Infrared 4 \ radiation i \ Visible light Surface of VenusCarbon dioxide cycle on Earth keeps us Fie eo tree COMO Tt chemistry, But this cycle would not work if there’s no liquid water!CeCe! ne these Penta) construct fragile CaCO, shells. Raion COEUR Lor Protas OILN to the ocean floor and form limestone deposits, thus trapping CO,.Limestone deposits in today’s oceans VA a, oe tom iaSpacecraft that have studied the surface of Venus Mariner 2 — 1962 — First planetary mission Pioneer Venus — 1978 - Topography and atmospheric probes Veneras 8 — 14, 1975 — 1982 — Landers! Veneras 15 & 16, 1984 — Orbital radars Magellan — 1990 — 1994 — Orbital radar images, Py ae ae Lede RAE Le Europe’s Venus Express, 20067. Venus: The veiled planet Properties of the Surface: Pages 217 - 234 o The radar instrument aboard the pent more than four years mapping out the surface of Venus in unprecedented detail, revealing rugged highlands, smoothed-out plains, volcanoes, and sparse, pristine impact craters. © Venus is alsmorgasbord of volcanism. [About 85 percent of its surface is covered by smooth, low-lying plains of lava, and much of the remaining 15 percent is high standing with towering volcanoes. © Meandering rivers of molten rock have gouged long, narrow channels through the plains of Venus. ago, wiping out all previous craters and about 90 percent of the planet’s history; volcanic activity has continued at a reduced level up to the present. © Tens of thousands of volcanoes now pepper the surface of Venus; some of the towering volcanoes could now he active. Tqurd water Ts nonexistent on Venus, pnd the lack of water could be why Venus does not have moving Plates sinlar to those found on Hearth. © Vertical motions associated with upwelling hot spots have buckled, crumpled, deformed, fractured and stretched the surface of Venus.Venera 14 Soviet Lander - 1982Landing Sites for Venera SpacecraftVenera 14 views of surface of Venus BEHEPA-14 OBPABOTKA HNNH AH CCCP H UaKCBite ee tenn a Venus, imaged by the Venera 14 Lander. Upper image: CO, atmosphere ges reddish color. Lower image: CO, removed. OUP yeu ety basalt!Composition of the surface rocks of Venus. The rocks are basalt! K(%) Th(ppm) U(ppm) Venera 8 4.9413 6.5+2.0 PpraelV/ Venera 9 Ogeas()y 4.0+0.25 0.5+0.2 Venera 10 0.3+0.1 1.1+0.2 0.7+0.2 (ere-vebic 4.11 pce Ral) Intermediate 2.04 10.0 PAI igneous rocks rela eye 5.0 0.83 “Venera data from Marov (1978). Data for terrestrial igneous rocks from Daly (1968) and Rankama & Sahama ccaTopography of Venus from the Pioneer Venus spacecraft ea rey a GC 7 ca abe. r r 2) Bi ~ o ” e oF wt a alThe “continents” on Venus are as big or bigger than those on Earth % ff AUSTRALIA KiRHeE BETA REGIO NORTH AMERICA e ISHTAR TERRA AFRICA er @ 3000 kmMaxwell Montes over 12 km high! is PUNE AGSapas Mons ~400 km dia.Reeve ore Oe eeeTectonic features: Fotla Ce CIEE S.E. of Aphrodite Oar)ikea oles Lane near Maxwell ATIIESUnusual fluid ejecta at impact craters on Venus Mj Fi Wd Awe mur log Stuart Crater BPA imeem 67 km diameterIsabella crater — Ejecta so hot it flows like lavarade Rotation period of 243 Earth Days with slow No Strong Magnetic Field