Venus - Earth's Evil Twin | connecting-the-dots

Facts About Venus

Second planet from the sun
Earth's closest planetary neighbour
It is around same size with Earth is just a little bigger in diameter
It is composed of the same materials
Venus being about 80% as dense as Earth
Venus is often referred to as Earth Twin
It is very unique in the solar system
It is the thickest, hottest and most intense atmosphere.
We can learn about terrestrial planets by observing and studying venus and interpreting it as an extreme case of what can happen on terrestrial planets.
It is only an 80 million km round trip from earth.
Venus was likely very similar to earth after the formation of the solar system, but it has evolved in a very different direction
The mean surface temperature of 464 degrees celsius ie. 867 degrees fahrenheit
Mercury is relatively balmy at 430 degrees celsius ie. 800 degrees fahrenheit with nightime temperatures dropping to -180 degrees celsius ie. -290 degree fahrenheit.
Venus isn't as close to the sun as the tiny planet, Mercury, yet it is much hotter.
The thick atmosphere of venus is composed mostly of carbon dioxide, which warms the planet.
Around 2 billion years Venus had a shallow liquid water ocean and habitable surface temperatures. Today, 100,000 times less water than Earth.
It is not proven, but scientists think that the atmosphere of venus started in a similar stage as that of the early earth.
As venus is closer to the sun, the water vaporised and helped heat up the atmosphere even more.
Water vapour is a very strong greenhouse gas - much stronger than carbon dioxide.
Atmospheric pressures at the surface, is 92 times greater than earth's surface pressure at sea level.
It spins so slowly that a day on venus lasts 243 earth days, but the planet only takes 225 earth days to fully orbit the sun. A day on venus is longer than a year. Venus rotates clockwise rather than counter clockwise, so the sun sets in the east and rises in the west.
It has more than 80,000 volcanoes, far less than the estimated millions of volcanoes on earth.
The moon is almost as old as our planet - 4.53 billion years compared to the earth's age of 4.54 billion years.
Its surface is called 'Coronae', first observed by the Magellan spacecraft in the 1990s.
The venus expressway mission find that some of the surface is still young.
The atmosphere is of 96.5% carbon dioxide and 3.5% nitrogen.
The crust is made of silicate rocks and is estimated to be 50 km thick
The heat from the core creates a molten mantle that is 3000 km thick
Venus' iron core consists of solid inner and liquid outer core roughly 3,200 km in radius

The DAVINCI probe - future mission

Set to launch in 2032
The Deep Atmosphere of Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry and Imaging mission
This will investigate the origin, evolution and present state of venus.
It will drop a probe to the surface of the planet.

In Mythology

In Roman mythology, venus was the goddess of love, beauty, fertility, prosperity and victory.
Considered an ancestor of the Roman people through her son Aeneas, who fled to Italy after the fall of Troy, Venus was centre of many religious festivals.
Venus has a rich and very interesting mythological history, because it is bright and anybody can see it.

Name

The name, 'Venus' was only given to the planet in 13th century.
Prior to this, it was known as morgensteorra or the morning star and aefensteorra or the evening star in old english.

Morning Star = Lucifer = Light Bringer

The term morning star, may be more familiar in latin as 'Lucifer' or the Light Bringer
In Hebrew, the planet was known as 'Helel'
It's thought that the association between Lucifer and Satan only began around 300CE when christian writersOrigen, Tertullian and Augustine of Hippo, interpreted the word Lucifer as Satan or the devil.
Before this, in the old testament of Bible, the morning star was a metaphor of the arrogance of a Babylonian King.

Most Famous Representation

The most famous representation of the influence of venus over the arts is Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus, likely painted between 1484 and 1486.
Currently displayed in the Uffizi galleries in Florence, Italy, the painting depicts the goddess Venus arriving at the shore after her birth.

Earth vs Venus