The Physics Factbook™
Edited by Glenn Elert -- Written by his students
An educational, Fair Use website
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|The New Book of Popular Science. Danbury, CT: Grolier, 1994.||"But with surface temperatures of 894 °F (480 °C), Venus is too hot for water."||753 K|
|"Venus (Planet)."The Encarta Concise Encyclopedia. 19 December 1999.||"The surface temperature of Venus is highly uniform, about 462 °C (about 736 K/864 °F)"||736 K|
|Williams, David R. Venus Fact Sheet. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. 12 October 1999.||"Average temperature: 737 K"||737 K|
|"Mariner" The Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, Grolier Electronic Publishing, 1993.||"this data indicated not only that the surface temperature of Venus is about 400 °C (800 °F)"||673 K|
|French, Bevan M. & Maran, Stephen P. A Meeting with the Universe. NASA-GPO, 1981.||"Venus' surface temperature is 900 °F"||755 K|
Venus is the second planet from the sun. When viewed from a telescope Venus exhibits phases similar to that of the moon. Venus rotates on an axis like earth but slower and in a direction opposite Earth's. The atmosphere on Venus is comprised mostly of carbon dioxide (CO2) and a small percentage of the atmosphere is nitrogen. Venus has many clouds, which are made up of high concentrations of sulfuric acid.
Water and water vapor are extremely rare on Venus due to its high surface temperature that can approach 758 K (900 °F). This extreme temperature is caused by the greenhouse effect. As sunlight heats Venus' surface, the surface radiates infrared energy that is kept from escaping the planet by dense carbon dioxide atmosphere.
The atmospheric pressure on Venus is 90 times greater than that of the Earth. The surface of Venus is very mountainous and has many volcanoes, some of which are higher than Mt. Everest. The gravity on Venus is similar to that of Earth but the mass of the atmosphere would crush a person and the air on Venus is unbreathable.
George Ryabov -- 2000
|Arnett, Bill. Venus. Nine Planets Solar System Tour. University of Arizona.||"This dense atmosphere produces a run-away greenhouse effect that raises Venus' surface temperature by about 400 degrees to over 740 K (hot enough to melt lead). Venus' surface is actually hotter than Mercury's despite being nearly twice as far from the Sun."||740 K|
Editor's Supplement -- 2000
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