Venus

Solar System

Why Doesn’t Venus Have Water? Blame Electric Wind

June 21, 2016 | Editors

Venus, our nearest neighbor, is one of the most inhospitable places in the solar system, it’s surface is often said to resemble the classical images of Hell, a really awful place that will kill you in less than 10 seconds. Read More

Space Exploration

NASA Planning To Send HAVOC Airships To Venus

February 25, 2016 | Editors

We’ve talked a lot about sending people to Mars, mostly because sending people to Mars would be really, really cool. But we also talk so much about it because a lot of people think that Mars is the next place humans will colonize. Read More

Space Exploration

AKATSUKI: Our Only Operating Spacecraft In Orbit Around Venus

December 4, 2015 | Editors

There’s been a lot of excitement about Mars recently, with the news that there’s liquid water and everything. But our next-door planet in the other direction will soon start to get its own share of attention, because the Akatsuki probe is about to make its second attempt at getting into orbit around Venus. Read More

Astronomy Events

June: Venus Is At Its Best Right Now. Jupiter Easily Visible In Evening Sky

June 13, 2015 | Editors

This June, skywatchers will have an opportunity to observe in the western sky — less than an hour after sunset — the two brightest planets in the night sky, Venus the brightest planet, and Jupiter as they are going to converge for a jaw-dropping close encounter. Read More

Solar System

NASA’s Magellan Unclothes Planet Venus

March 10, 2015 | Editors

As a planet, Venus, shrouded in thick clouds of carbon dioxide, doesn’t lend itself to visual observation. To lift the veil on Earth’s nearest planetary neighbor, spacecraft such as NASA’s Magellan probe use radar to penetrate Venus’ clouds. Read More

Solar System

Early Venus may have had Oceans of Carbon Dioxide

January 18, 2015 | Editors

Venus is often described as Earth’s twin, but with a runaway greenhouse effect from excessive carbon dioxide. The planet closely resembles Earth in size, mass, chemical makeup, and distance from the sun. Those components, combined with the kinds of geological formations associated with water erosion, led scientists to hypothesize that Venus was once home to giant oceans, much like Earth. Read More

Solar System Space Exploration

NASA Plans to Build “Cloud Cities” Above Venus

December 22, 2014 | Editors 1

NASA’s focus for human spaceflight seems to change every few years as we learn something new about what it will take to keep human beings alive out there. However, NASA usually picks one of a few targets. Will we go to Mars next, maybe back to the Moon, or perhaps an asteroid is a better option? NASA’s Langley Research Center has put forward an interesting proposal — instead of the traditional choices, why not make the trip to Venus? Read More

Space Exploration

Astronomers Search for the Twin of Our Twin Among the Stars

September 23, 2014 | Editors

What if, in our quest to find another Earth, we happen upon another Venus? We should celebrate, of course. Venus is often called Earth’s “twin” because it shares of lot of our home planet’s physical characteristics: surface area, composition and density. Read More

Astronomy Guide Celestial Object

Space Facts Venus

April 24, 2014 | Editors

Venus is the second planet from the Sun and is the second brightest object in the night sky after the Moon. Named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty, Venus is the second largest terrestrial planet and is sometimes referred to as the Earth’s sister planet due the their similar size and mass. The surface of the planet is obscured by an opaque layer of clouds made up of sulfuric acid. Read More