Journey to the Morning Star: Unveiling the Planet Venus for Kids

By Sarah Michaels

Take a journey to Venus, the planet that gleams like a jewel in the night sky! This fascinating world has secrets that will ignite your imagination. Did you know a day on Venus is longer than a year? Or that its surface is covered in giant volcanoes and endless lava plains

• Language: English
• Publisher: SL Editions
• Release date: Dec 28, 2024
• ISBN: 9798348253387

Book preview

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INTRODUCTION TO VENUS

Venus is the second planet from the Sun, sandwiched between Mercury and Earth. If you’ve ever looked up at the night sky and seen a super bright light just before sunrise or right after sunset, there’s a good chance you were looking at Venus. It’s the brightest object in the sky after the Sun and Moon, and it’s often called the Morning Star or the Evening Star. People have been fascinated by Venus for thousands of years because of how brilliantly it shines.

What makes Venus glow so brightly? It’s all thanks to its thick atmosphere. Venus is covered in layers of clouds that reflect sunlight, acting like a giant mirror in space. These clouds make Venus shine like a jewel in the sky. But those same clouds hide something wild beneath: a world hotter than any oven you’ve ever heard of, with an atmosphere that could crush a spaceship like a tin can. If Earth feels like a friendly home, Venus is more like an alien world straight out of a science fiction movie.

Let’s talk size. Venus is nearly the same size as Earth, which is one reason people call them twins. If Earth is about as big as a basketball, Venus would be only slightly smaller—more like a soccer ball. They’re also made of similar stuff: rock and metal. Both planets have volcanoes, mountains, valleys, and craters. From far away, you might think they’re practically the same. But once you learn about what it’s like on Venus, you’ll realize how truly unique it is.

One of the weirdest things about Venus is how it spins. On Earth, the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west because our planet spins in that direction. Venus, however, spins the other way! That means the Sun would rise in the west and set in the east if you were standing on Venus (though, trust me, you wouldn’t want to stand there). Even stranger, Venus spins incredibly slowly. A day on Venus—that’s how long it takes the planet to spin around once—lasts about 243 Earth days. That’s longer than an entire year on Venus, which is only 225 Earth days. Let that sink in: a single day on Venus is longer than its year. Isn’t that mind-blowing?

Another thing that sets Venus apart is its temperature. Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system, even though Mercury is closer to the Sun. How is that possible? It’s all because of those thick clouds we mentioned earlier. Venus’s atmosphere is packed with carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that traps heat. Sunlight comes in, but the heat can’t escape, turning Venus into a giant pressure cooker. The average temperature on Venus is around 900 degrees Fahrenheit—that’s hot enough to melt lead. Imagine trying to bake cookies in an oven that never cools down. That’s Venus for you!

Let’s not forget about the air on Venus. Breathing on Earth is easy because we have lots of oxygen. Venus, on the other hand, has an atmosphere made mostly of carbon dioxide, with clouds of sulfuric acid. Yes, acid. The kind of stuff that could burn through metal. If you tried to take a deep breath on Venus, the air would be so thick and heavy it would feel like you were at the bottom of the ocean. And even if you had a super strong spacesuit, the heat and acid would still make it nearly impossible to survive.

But Venus isn’t all doom and gloom. It’s a planet of mysteries and wonders, and scientists are still learning amazing things about it. For example, Venus has more volcanoes than any other planet in the solar system. Some of these volcanoes are enormous, towering over any mountain on Earth. Scientists aren’t sure if the volcanoes on Venus are still erupting today, but they do know that lava flows have shaped much of its surface. Picture a world covered in rivers of hardened lava, with volcanoes scattered across the landscape.

Even though Venus is an incredibly hostile place, it’s also incredibly fascinating. Scientists study Venus not just to understand the planet itself, but also to learn more about our own world. Venus is like a warning about what can happen when a planet’s atmosphere goes out of control. By studying Venus, we can learn how to take better care of Earth and prevent problems like global warming from getting worse.

What’s also cool is that Venus has inspired humans for centuries. Ancient civilizations gave it names and told stories about it. The Romans named it after Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, because of its bright, shining appearance. To them, Venus was a symbol of elegance and mystery. Today, astronomers and scientists continue to look to Venus with wonder, dreaming of ways to explore it further and unlock its secrets.

Venus in the solar system

One of the cool things about Venus is how close it is to Earth compared to any other planet. It’s our cosmic neighbor! On average, Venus is about 25 million miles away from Earth. That might sound like a huge number, but in the vastness of space, it’s practically a stone’s throw. Because of this, Venus has been one of the easiest planets for humans to study—though easy might not be the right word when you think about all the challenges scientists have faced trying to peek beneath those thick clouds.

Now, let’s zoom out for a moment and look at the solar system as a whole. The Sun is at the center, like the glowing campfire around which all the planets gather. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, making it the fastest in its orbit, zipping around like it’s late for something. Venus is next, circling a little farther out but still close enough to feel the Sun’s powerful heat. Earth, where we live, is the third planet, perfectly placed in what scientists call the habitable zone—a fancy way of saying it’s just the right distance from the Sun to have liquid water and life.

Venus doesn’t sit in the habitable zone, and that’s one reason it’s so different from Earth. It’s a little too close to the Sun for comfort. That extra proximity means the Sun's energy hits Venus harder, which is one of the reasons its atmosphere turned into the suffocating greenhouse it is today. Imagine standing closer to a bonfire. At first, you feel warm and cozy, but step a little too close, and it gets uncomfortably hot really fast. That’s Venus’s situation. Its orbit puts it close enough to the Sun that even small changes in its atmosphere had huge effects over time.

Even though Venus is in a tough spot for life as we know it, its position makes it incredibly important for scientists studying planets. Venus and Earth are close enough to have started off with some similarities—similar size, similar materials—but their paths turned out completely different. By understanding Venus, scientists hope to better understand what makes Earth so special. Why did Earth end up with oceans, forests, and animals, while Venus became a fiery