Venus

Venus
Venus in Orbiter 2016 with D3D9
Designation
Name	Venus
Reference body	Sun
Number of satellites
Planetary mean orbits
Epoch	J2000 (1 January 2000)
Semimajor axis (a)	0.72333199 AU (1.082089255×1011 km)
Eccentricity (e)	0.00677323
Inclination (i)	3.39471° (0.0592489 radian)
Longitude of the ascending node (LAN, ☊)	76.68069° 1.338331 radian)
Longitude of periapsis (ϖ)	131.53298° (2.295684 radian)
Mean longitude (L)	181.97973° (3.176145 radian)
Planetary orbital element centennial rates
Semimajor axis (a)	0.00000092 AU/Century
Eccentricity (e)	-0.00004938 Century-1
Inclination (i)	-2.86 seconds/Century
Longitude of the ascending node (LAN, ☊)	-996.89 seconds/Century
Longitude of periapsis (ϖ)	-108.80 seconds/Century
Mean longitude (L)	210664136.06 seconds/Century
Selected physical parameters|
Mean radius	6051.84 km
Mass	4.86855374×1024 kg
Density	5.204 g/cm3
Sidereal rotation period	-5832.444 hours
Sidereal orbit period	0.6151826 years
Magnitude V(1,0)	-4.4
Geometric albedo	0.65
Equatorial gravity	8.8606 m/s2
Orbital speed at surface	7328 m/s
Escape velocity	10.361 km/s
SOI radius (estimated)	1.68×108 m
Rotation elements
North pole right ascension (α1)	272.78°
North pole declination (δ1)	67.21°
Obliqutiy of ecliptic	1.27°
Longitude of Sun's transit	301.07°
Atmospheric parameters
Surface Pressure	9200 kPa
Surface Density	~65 kg/m/3
Scale height	15.9 km
Average temperature	737 K
Wind speeds	0.3-1 m/s (surface)
Ecliptic position from primary*
Note	*Elements given are from Orbiter.pdf (2016)

Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It has a day longer than a year. The year length of Venus is 225 Earth days. The day length of Venus is 243 Earth days. It is a terrestrial planet because it has a solid, rocky surface like other planets in the inner solar system. Astronomers have known Venus for thousands of years. The ancient Romans named it after their goddess Venus. Venus is the brightest thing in the night sky except for the Moon. It is sometimes called the morning star or the evening star as at some elongations it is easily seen just before the sun comes up in the morning and, at other elongations, just after the sun goes down in the evening. Venus comes closer to the Earth than any other planet does.

Venus is sometimes called the sister planet of Earth as they are quite similar in size and gravity. In other ways, the planets are very different. Venus' atmosphere (air) is mostly carbon dioxide with clouds of sulphuric acid. Sulphuric acid is a chemical that is very poisonous to humans.

The thick atmosphere has made it hard to see the surface, and until the twenty-first century, many people thought things might live there. The pressure on Venus' surface is 92 times that of Earth. Venus has no moons. Venus spins very slowly on its axis and it spins in the opposite direction to the other planets.

Surface features

Although Venus is modeled as a sphere, there are more than 2000 surface features marked on Venus and are labeled if the labels are turned on in the Display menu.

See List of surface features on Venus

Historical missions to Venus

For a complete list of historical missions, see Missions to Venus.

Venus add-ons

Add-ons for Venus beginning with the most recent.

Add-on	Source	Version	Author	Type	Release Date	Compatibility	Wiki article
Orbiter 2010-P1	O-F Resources	100830	martins	Orbiter Download	30 August 2010	Orbiter 2010-P1
Orbiter 2010	O-F Resources	100606	martins	Orbiter Download	5 June 2010	Orbiter 2010
STS-30 (Atlantis) and Magellan	O-F Resources	2020-08-10	Gargantua2024	Spacecraft	10 August 2020	Orbiter 2016
Venus surface and heightmap tiles for Orbiter 2016	O-F Resources	2016-12-04	4throck	Scenery	4 December 2016	Orbiter 2016
Multiple slingshot scenarios to outer planets	O-F Resources	2016-08-29	downloaderfan	Scenarios	30 August 2016
Rosetta - Comet 67/P Landing Mission, ver. 3B	O-F Resources	ver. 3B	flug	Spacecraft	19 November 2014
Venus Base	O-F Resources	2014-04-17	drummer054	Scenery	17 April 2014
Venus Level 9 global textures	O-F Resources	2012-11-24	4throck	Scenery	24 November 2012
Venus Heightmap	O-F Resources	2012-11-04	4throck	Scenery	4 November 2012
NASA - Titan Odyssey 2.0	O-F Resources	2.0	ionif	Scenarios	13 October 2012	Orbiter 2010
NASA - Titan Odyssey 1.0	O-F Resources	1.0	ionif	Scenarios	13 October 2012	Orbiter 2010
Pioneer Venus 1	O-F Resources	2012-03-05	TheXFiles19	Spacecraft	5 March 2012
GEP Mariner 2	O-F Resources	2011-05-23	Felipi1205	Spacecraft	24 May 2011	Orbiter 2006-P1
Grand Exploration Probes- Mariner 2	O-F Resources	2011-05-22	Felipi1205	Spacecraft	22 May 2011	Orbiter 2006-P1
Venus 8 level texture	O-F Resources	2011-03-05	sergsh	Scenery	5 March 2011
Vega1 & Vega2	O-F Resources	2010-09-28	BrianJ	Spacecraft	29 September 2010	Orbiter 2010-P1
Venus HiRes Level 8	O-F Resources	2009-12-01	Unknown OHM Addon Developer	Scenery	1 December 2009
Venera 9	O-F Resources	v1.0-091005	4throck	Spacecraft	5 October 2009
Io Orbiter	O-F Resources	2008-12-25	Piper	Spacecraft	25 December 2008
Shukra_Venus_Station_080813	O-F Resources	080813	Artlav	Scenery	13 August 2008	UMMU
Venus Express	O-F Resources	2008-06-25	MartySpaceLines	Spacecraft	25 June 2008
Venus Star v 0.5	O-F Resources	2007-11-06	Tsynique	Spacecraft	6 November 2007
145 Year Solar System Tour	O-F Resources	2007-02-28	Unknown OHM Addon Developer	Scenarios	28 February 2007
Venera-D	O-F Resources	2006-12-09	Kodiak	Spacecraft	9 December 2006
Orbiter 2006-P1	O-F Resources	060929	martins	Orbiter Download	29 September 2006	Orbiter 2006-P1
The Double Planet Solar System	O-F Resources	2006-07-09	ijuin	Scenery	10 July 2006
Venusbase	O-F Resources	2006-05-29	Unknown OHM Addon Developer	Scenery	30 May 2006	Orbiter 2006
Orbiter 2006	O-F Resources	060504	martins	Orbiter Download	4 May 2006	Orbiter 2006
Floating Base Titan-Venus v0.9	O-F Resources	v0.9	Peaceman	Scenery	24 April 2006
Solar System Bases V7.0 Final	O-F Resources	V7.0	Unknown OHM Addon Developer	Scenery	21 January 2006
OP Center Farenheit	O-F Resources	2006-01-19	Unknown OHM Addon Developer	Scenery	19 January 2006
Emissary Galleon v2	O-F Resources	v2	perseus	Spacecraft	2 June 2005
Topographic Green Images for Map MFD	O-F Resources	2005-02-15	Drake	Miscellaneous	15 February 2005
2005 (with P1 patch files)	O-F Resources	050216	martins	Orbiter Download	16 February 2005	Orbiter 2005
Lo Res Planets (for slow computers)	O-F Resources	2004-12-18	Unknown OHM Addon Developer	Scenery	18 December 2004
GEP- Cassini-Huygens V 1.2	O-F Resources	V 1.2	missleman01	Spacecraft	26 June 2004
GEP - Galileo	O-F Resources	2004-06-18	missleman01	Spacecraft	19 June 2004
GEP - Magellan	O-F Resources	2004-06-17	missleman01	Spacecraft	18 June 2004
Orbiter 2003-P2	O-F Resources	031217	martins	Orbiter Download	17 December 2003	Orbiter 2003-P2
Orbiter 2003-P1	O-F Resources	031105	martins	Orbiter Download	5 November 2003
Orbiter 2002	O-F Resources	020419	martins	Orbiter Download	19 April 2002	Orbiter 2002
Orbiter 2001	O-F Resources	010503	martins	Orbiter Download	3 May 2001	Orbiter 2001

Flight Warning!

At the surface of Venus, the atmospheric pressure is 9.2MPa, over 90 atmospheres. This is substantially greater than the back-pressure which standard rocket motors are able to generate; a Delta-glider landed on Venus will not be able to take off (at least if the complex flight model is in use).

See Also

• Venus at Wikipedia

• 

  Venus in Orbiter 2001
• 

  Venus in Orbiter 2002
• 

  Venus in Orbiter 2002P3
• 

  Venus in Orbiter 2003P2
• 

  Venus in Orbiter 2005P1
• 

  Venus in Orbiter 2006P1
• 

  Venus in Orbiter 2010P1
• 

  Venus as seen by MESSENGER 5 June 2007

This article, about a planet, is a stub. You can help Orbiterwiki by expanding it.