Planet Venus is often referred to as Earths twin sister. In addition to being similar in terms of size, both are terrestrial planets and therefore have the same composition. Venus, being a neighbor to Earth also orbits around the sun within the “habitable zone”. However, there are key differences that make Venus a complete difference planet compared to Earth. To start with, Venus’ atmosphere is ninety times thicker compared to the Earth’s atmosphere. The air in Venus is nothing but toxic fumes which consists of Sulphuric acid and carbon dioxide. Moreover, the temperatures are high enough to melt metals such as lead. There are several factors that are associated with these differences as will be discussed below and in particular why it rains Sulphuric acid in this planet. The atmospheric effects on weather and also the ways in which planets can obtain the atmosphere is also a concern in this paper.
However much these two planets appear similar, there are several differences and some factors such as atmospheric composition, planet formation and water are the factors behind all these differences. One major factor is the high amount of carbon dioxide in Venus compared to the small amounts of carbon present on planet Earth (Glaze, 2017). Venus lacks a comparatively large Moon. This implies that its formation was a little restrained than the Earth’s formation. With no great collision to emit the primordial atmosphere, Venus might have started operating in a greenhouse mode right from the beginning. Venus is almost devoid of water; the water contents are significantly lower. It is argued that if water was present, then there would be a reduced greenhouse effect on this planet and that the planet would have lasted longer. Plate tectonics could not be formed on this planet due to the lack of water and the high temperatures; this made it impossible to bury the high amounts of carbon. With such factors, the reasons behind the stark differences between these two planets are clear.
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The rain in planet Venus is particularly Sulphuric acid, one would ask how and why? Unlike the Earth’s clouds which are made of water, the clouds in Planet Venus are made up of Sulphuric acid. Due to the high temperatures however, the rain rarely falls; it evaporates before hitting the ground. The air consists of 97% carbon dioxide which explains the reasons for the excess global warming. The planet also consists of small amounts of water vapor and Sulphur dioxide (Glaze, 2017). Research shows that when Sulphur dioxide and the water vapor rise, they are exposed to the ultraviolet rays of the sun at the top of the atmosphere which causes a reaction and forms Sulphuric acid. The factor that causes these gases to rise is still undiscovered.
The presence of an atmosphere affects the weather patterns in that planet. Focusing on the atmospheric effects on the temperatures on the planet surface then we would have a general idea of these effects. If a planet lacks atmosphere all the sunlight striking it hits the surface, and normally only approximately 90% is absorbed the rest is reflected back into space. However, if the planet a thicker atmosphere, cloud-filled a significant amount of sunlight is reflected before it hits the surface. Winds play a great role in moderating the temperature along the poles and the equator (Glaze, 2017). The effectiveness of these winds particularly depends on the thickness of the atmosphere. The thicker the atmosphere, the greater the rate of temperature moderation. Venus and Earth atmospheric difference is a great way to illustrate this effect. The other factor is the greenhouse effect among others. It is clear that the atmospheric composition affects the weather and in particular the temperatures and hence the rains.
There are several ways in which a planet obtains its atmosphere. The original atmosphere of each planet is attributed to the solar nebula, which is a gaseous cloud containing interstellar matter from which all planets and the sun were formed. The atmosphere obtained during formation is the primary atmosphere which consists of gases such as hydrogen and helium. This kind of atmosphere changes radically and evolves into a secondary atmosphere (De Pater& Lissauer, 2015).The secondary atmosphere is gained through the planet’s outgassing history; release of gases during activities such as plate tectonics and volcanic.
Responses
Tkakl Makreos
Mars is completely different from what we can conclude by merely looking at its pictures. The fact is that there is a very low possibility of life in this planet, the temperatures are extremely cold (around minus 60 degrees Celsius). Yes it is true that there are hundreds of craters on Mars and there is a possibility that water is actually tapped in there but in the form of ice. Visiting this planet on foot is not as easy as it theoretically appears. Factually, only 18 missions of visiting this planet have been successful and this was done by orbiters and landers. The extreme storms might make it impossible to explore this planet by foot and such a suggestion is quite unreasonable.
Tony Johnson
It is essentially impossible to describe the exact side of mars in relation to earth. Mars and Earth share common features such as rocks, valleys, mountains and craters. The temperatures in these two planets are different; while earth is relatively cool, mars is extremely cold. Whatever is stated in this post is a combination of facts that cannot be criticized. However very important facts were left out; these two planets have four common seasons. Additionally air on planet Mars is 95% carbon dioxide and 0.0128% oxygen as compared to the 78% nitrogen and 21%oxygen on Earth.
References
De Pater, I., & Lissauer, J. J. (2015). Planetary sciences . Cambridge University Press.
Glaze, L. S., Amato, M., Garvin, J. B., & Johnson, N. M. (2017). Exploration of Venus' Deep Atmosphere and Surface Environment.
