Newbury Astronomical Society

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The Planets

Speaker Meeting
Date:	Friday, October 01, 2010
Time:	19:30
Subject:	The True Story of the Isaac Newton Telescope
Speaker:	Lee Macdonald (Newbury AS)
Location:	United Reformed Church Hall, Newbury

Beginners Meeting
Date:	Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Time:	19:00
Location:	St. Mary's Church Hall, Greenham

Observing Session
Mark Byrne's Star Party
Date:	Saturday, September 11, 2010
Time:	19:00
Location:	Mark Byrne's House
Note:	Contact Mark for directions on 01380 816211 or e-mail at mark.byrne@virgin.net

Special Meeting
Christmas Dinner
Date:	Saturday, December 18, 2010
Time:	19:30
Subject:	To Be Confirmed
Speaker:	Dr. Allan Chapman (Oxford University)
Location:	The Square Restuarant, Weavers Walk, Newbury
Note:	Booking essential for this meeting. Please contact a member of the committee to secure your place.

Planetary information

Click a planet in the list below and the information will be displayed.

Planetary information for Venus

Venus is a dim world of intense heat and volcanic activity. Similar in structure and size to Earth, Venus' thick, toxic atmosphere traps heat in a runaway 'greenhouse effect.' The scorched world has temperatures hot enough to melt lead. Glimpses below the clouds reveal volcanoes and deformed mountains. Venus spins slowly in the opposite direction of most planets. Venus is named for the ancient Roman goddess of love and beauty. Venus is the Roman counterpart to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty. It is believed Venus was named for the most beautiful of the ancient gods because it shone the brightest of the five planets known to ancient astronomers.

Discovery:	Known by the Ancients
Position from the sun:	2nd
Average distance from the Sun:	67,237,910 miles 108,208,930 kilometres
Perihelion: (Closest point to the sun in orbital path)	66,782,000miles 107,476,000 kilometres 0.73 x Earth by comparison
Aphelion: (Furthest point from the sun in orbital path)	67,693,000 miles 67,693,000 kilometres 0.72 x Earth by comparison
Equatorial radius of the planet:	3,760 miles 6,052 kilometres 0.95 x Earth by comparison
Plaentary circumference at the equator:	23,627 miles 38,025 kilometres
Volume:	222,735,005,070 miles³ 928,400,000,000 kilometres³ 0.88 x Earth by comparison
Mass of the planet:	4,868,500,000,000,000,000,000,000 Kilogrammes 0.82 x Earth by comparison
Density of the planet:	5.24 gm³ 0.00 x Earth by comparison
Surface area:	177,700,000 miles² 460,200,000 kilometres² 0.90 x Earth by comparison
Equatorial surface gravity:	29.10 feet/second² 8.87 metres/second² If you weighed 100 pounds on Earth, you would weigh 91 pounds on Venus
Escape velocity: (The speed required to achieve orbit)	23,200 miles per hour 37,300 kilometres per hour 0.93 x Earth by comparison
Sidereal Rotation Period: (Length of Day)	243 Earth days (retrograde)
Sidereal Orbit Period: (Length of Year)	224.7 Earth days
Orbital velocity: (The speed at which Venus goes around the Sun)	78,341 miles per hour 126,077.00 kilomtetres per hour 1.18 x Earth by comparison
Orbital Circumference: (The distance that Venus travels to complete one orbit)	419,600,000 miles 675,300,000 kilometres 0.73 x Earth by comparison
Orbital eccentricity: (How elliptical is Venus's orbit around the Sun)	0.01° 0.41 x Earth by comparison
Orbital inclination: (How tilted is the orbit of Venus from the plane of the solar system)	3.39°
Equatorial inclination: (How tilted is Venus itself from a vertical axis)	177.3° 7.56 x Earth by comparison
Surface temperature:	462°C ( 864°F)
Contents of the Atmosphere:	Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen

Website designed by Paul Thompson.
Graphics based on designs by Adrian West.

The site is maintained by Paul Thompson and members of the Society committee.
The Society is a member of the Federation of Astronomical Societies and a registered charity.