Venus (Planet)
Contents
Hemispheric view of Venus produced by Magellan.
Credit: NASA/NSSDC
Overview
Venus, named after the Roman goddess of love, is one of the inner terrestrial planets. Venus' orbit is the second furthest from the Sun after Mercury and closer to Earth's orbit than any of the other planets.
Atmosphere
Venus' has a thick atmosphere of mostly carbon dioxide with some sulpher dioxide, this means that Venus is completely covered with cloud at all times and virtually no detail can be seen with standard ground based telescopes. It also means Venus has a high albedo (it reflects light really well) so that when Venus is at it's closest to Earth in it's orbit it is the third brightest object in the sky after the Sun and Moon. If you know where to look it can even be seen in broad daylight!
Phases
From the Earth, the planet Venus goes through phases just like the Moon and for a similar reason. When Venus is at it's closest to Earth it is between the Sun and Earth so most of the light from the Sun falls on the side of Venus which we cannot see and we see a crescent. When Venus is furthest from the Earth more of it's disc is revealed as light from the Sun is falling on the side of Venus we can see. However, it is when it is in it's crescent phase that Venus is at it's brightest as that is when it is at it's closest to us.
Locating Venus
Venus' orbit is inferior to that of the Earth's, that is to say it's orbit lies between the Sun and the orbit of the Earth, therefore, Venus is best spotted after sunset or before sunrise.
Vital Statistics
Mean distance from The Sun 0.723 a.u.
Sidereal Period 224.701 days
Rotation Period 243.16 days
Mass 0.815 Earth
Diameter 12104 km
Astronomical Symbol
The Astronomical symbol for the planet Venus is represented by the symbol '♀'
