Venus the goddess of beauty and love a charming deity that loves stirring up trouble among humans
that is of course according to greek roman mythology and yet thousands of years after
the ancients conceptualized the idea of this mischievous goddess and the very civilizations
that worshipped her have fallen here we are we'll look at the sky and we see it a magnificent
planet that just like its divine counterpart is guaranteed to make you fall in love welcome
the Factnomenal and today we will take you on an otherworldly journey into the meanders of Venus.
what if i told you that our home planet earth had a twin in our same galaxy in our same solar
system shocked you'd better be Venus and earth are almost the same size having about the same mass
and have a very similar composition and what's more they are neighboring planets however they
couldn't be more different the Venusian atmosphere is roughly 100 times thicker than earth's trapping
sunlight in a disastrous greenhouse effect making its surface temperatures extremely hot
so hot in fact that lead would melt with an average temperature of 864
degrees fahrenheit this secures Venus the title as the hottest planet in the entire solar system
while earth is covered with oceans filled with water and life Venus on the other hand
is covered in volcanoes and lava and the surface pressure there is the same that we'd experience
a mile below our oceans and to underscore how different these twins are just think that a
day on Venus is 243 days on earth while one venusian year is only 225 earth days
you got it right a venusian day is longer than a year that's because of its extremely slow rotation
speed which is the slowest in our solar system and if that wasn't quirky enough add to it that Venus
rotates in the opposite direction than earth and you'll see how different these twin planets are
due to these unique conditions landing a probe on Venus has proven very difficult spacecraft needs
shielding to withstand the scorching atmosphere and even robotic landers were only able to survive
for a maximum of two hours still despite it all today we want to show you the best pictures taken
in our 60 years of exploration a sneak peek into the sublime and elusive beauty of Venus
first of all let's take a look from afar we can see how the entire planet is shrouded in clouds
and what's more these clouds are partly made of oxygen
doesn't that make you almost feel at home at the upper boundary of the venusian troposphere
the lowest part of the atmosphere where clouds are formed carbon dioxide and water vapor react
with sunlight resulting in an accumulation of oxygen carbon monoxide and hydrogen
here comes the twist though oxygen reacts with the sulfur dioxide present in the troposphere
which undergoes a series of chemical reactions resulting in sulfuric acid vapors these clouds
are made of sulfuric acid putting aside how inhospitable that makes the planet
let's keep in mind that Venus is the goddess of beauty not of friendliness these beautiful clouds
thanks to the high reflective index of sulfuric acid reflects nearly 70 percent of the sunlight
shining on the planet making it the brightest object in our sky right after the sun and moon
now let's take a look under the clouds did you know that Venus is home to some of the tallest
mountains in the solar system maxwell montez rises approximately 6.8 miles above the mean
planetary radius and is home to giants that are nearly twice as tall as mount Everest
and as expected of Venus everything about the planet has some quirk to it these mountains for
instance are made of an unknown material unusually reflective to radar wavelengths
that's also the reason for their relatively quick discovery exactly thanks to this peculiarity
in radar images they are one of the brightest features on the planet hence maxwell montez in
honor of the British physicist James clerk Maxwell whose research was the basis for radar technology
but enough about simple mountains let's move on to giant volcanoes here is the Mat Mons the
tallest volcano on Venus with an elevation of about 5 miles above the main planetary radius
3.1 miles from the surrounding terrain yes you got that right a volcano as tall as mount Venus
and if that wasn't enough let's add that it may well be an active volcano
a terrifying sight for a volcano named after the Egyptian goddess of truth and justice
you should also know that the place these behemoths reside is what is called a
terra a continent-sized highland area with very peculiar features
let's move on to talk about the biggest and arguably most magnificent of the Venusian terry
take a look at Aphrodite Terra Aphrodite has a size comparable to Africa and an elevation
between 0.6 and 3 miles above the mean planetary radius what makes this terra especially quirky
is how it's mostly made of tessera terrain tessera meaning mosaic tile is a very fitting
name if we consider how these terrains are the most geologically complex region seen on venus
highly rugged and deformed displaying parallel ridges and troughs cutting across one another at
a wide range of angles these tesserae can be so complex that it is sometimes difficult to even
imagine how they came to be the only certainty is that the lithosphere must have been under
incredible stresses probably a consecution of elevation and crumbling in the same areas
together with several other processes that built up to this weirdly charming surface
another geological phenomenon to be aware of is the one behind the caronae that is to say the
so-called crown of Venus typical of lata terra but also widespread through other areas of the planet
these crowns are landmarks that came to be as a result of blobs of hot material moving from
deep beneath the surface of the planet outwards towards the surface in their movement these blobs
of material dye appears is their name elevate the crust and fracture it in a radial pattern as
they approach the surface and cool the initially raised crust can collapse under its own weight
this process results in concentric faults and the typical outline of a corona a constellation
of faults fractures and ridges sometimes in a circular fashion atop a broad and gently sloping
elevated terrain indeed these are such cases where there's more than meets the eye an entire
story an entire geological history of disasters that culminated in what we now see with wonder
it's been 27 years since nasa last launched a mission to study the fascinating world of Venus
with all the amazing and mysterious things we now know about the planet it was high time that
nasa shifted its focus on earth's evil twin could Venus be a habitable world full of liquid oceans
that of course is the burning question that everyone wants to know and that's exactly
what nasa's DAVINCI mission seeks to find out Lori Glaze a nasa research scientist made the
following statement Venus is a fascinating planet that has so many mysteries yet for us to discover
and i think we need to better understand it we need to get back to Venus
the mission is set to be launched at the end of this decade in 2029 the new mission will
be carried out in two separate segments with the first being several flybys of the planet
one can only imagine the amazing close-up look we will get at the planet of love
the second segment however is the most exciting yet for the first time ever a probe will be
dropped into the planet's upper atmosphere it's important to remember that the atmosphere on Venus
is about 90 times denser than the atmosphere on planet earth which will no doubt prove to be a
challenge the probe will slowly descend into Venus's atmosphere and begin taking readings
of its composition the main objective here is not only to collect data on structure and composition
but to hunt for any signs of oxygen that could give us a clue about the presence of water
the DAVINCI will use the compact ultraviolet to visible imaging spectrometer kuvis an imaging
spacecraft to investigate the planet's dayside and collect data about previously undiscovered
substances in Venus's upper atmosphere while the venous imaging system for observational
reconnaissance or visor will explore the night side of Venus during the second flyby
to learn more about how the planet's highlands evolved over time
well after almost being neglected for the past three decades because it was deemed to be a
dead planet by scientists it now looks like Venus will be getting the attention she finally deserves
nasa is shelling out the big box around 500 million dollars to be exact and we'll
be launching at least two such probes into its atmosphere and only time will tell how
successful they will be as they enter the planet's hellish and noxious atmosphere
and now that we approach the most exciting part of our journey here comes a treat for the eyes
during the cold war Russia and America were at the forefront of space exploration
and we have the Russian space agency to thank for these pictures of Venus the project name was
Venera although documentation on the program is sparse as it took place in the former soviet union
we know that the first successful Venus mission took place in 1967 with venera 4 replicating
the success with Venera 7. and finally in 1975 with Venera 9 and 10 we received the
first pictures from the Venusian surface these images are as you can see in black and white
but the mission as a whole signified an enormous advancement in our studies of the elusive planet
sadly the landers didn't survive the ferocious climate long enough to transmit many images
but their success was replicated once again by Venera 13 and 14 this time with color
cameras allowing us to witness the surface of Venus with our own eyes as if we were there
Venera 13 survived the astonishing time of 127 minutes 127 minutes spent not only taking pictures
but running all sorts of analyses just like the previous landers while the Venera 14 survived
only little less than one hour the color picture showed just how desolate Venus is
with its yellowish haze and barren terrain yet there is a certain primordial beauty to it a
feeling that digs inside your heart and resounds with the knowledge that with your own eyes
you are seeing Venus so what do you think would you like to take an up close and personal look
at Venus tell us in the comments if you're feeling generous you can buy us a coffee with the link in
the description this will help us towards our goal of bringing you better and longer videos
every single day of the week and as always thanks for watching we'll see you next time