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You are here: Home / Space / Who Discovered the Planet Venus and What Is the Planet Venus Best Known For?

Who Discovered the Planet Venus and What Is the Planet Venus Best Known For?

May 6, 2020 by Karen Hill

The transit of Venus was first observed in 1032 by the Persian astronomer Avicenna, but Venus has long been known to ancient civilizations as the “morning star” or “evening star”.

He concluded that Venus is closer to the Earth than the Sun.

Venus, the second planet from the Sun, is sometimes called the twin of Earth; however, there are at least as many differences as similarities.

Venus has about the same size, mass, and density as Earth; it is only 24 million miles (40 million km) away from Earth at its closest point; and its orbit is almost as fast as Earth’s.

It is also hundreds of degrees hotter, completely dry, constantly covered by clouds, yet it is brighter than any star in Earth’s sky, except the Sun, and has a crushing atmospheric pressure.

Because of Venus’s cloud cover, we have never seen its surface from Earth, spacecraft and radio telescopes, however, have taken many radar images of the surface.

Perhaps one of the oddest things about Venus is that it rotates backward.

Venus is permanently covered by clouds.

Related Facts

  • What Is the Best Way To Observe the Planet Venus and Why Is Venus the Brightest Planet In the Sky?
  • How Hot Is the Planet Venus and Why Is Venus Known As the Hottest Planet In the Solar System?
  • How do astronomers know how far away stars and galaxies are from earth?
  • Why Is the Planet Venus Covered In Clouds and How Were the Clouds On Venus Formed From Sulfur Dioxide?
  • How Do the Clouds On Venus Move and How Long Do the Clouds On Venus Take To Rotate Around the Planet?
  • Why Does the Planet Venus Shine So Brightly In the Sky and How Much Sunlight Does Venus Reflect?

Filed Under: Space

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Why Does the Planet Venus Rotate Backwards and What Is the Reverse Rotation of a Planet Called?
Next Post: What Is the Surface of Planet Venus Like and Why Is Venus So Hot and Dry? »

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