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Venus

It's our nearest neighbor and a near twin to Earth in size and composition. But, compared to the rest of the terrestrial worlds, we know little about Venus. What makes the markings in its clouds? How did its history diverge from Earth's to lead to its hellish climate? Why does it have so many volcanoes? Are any of those volcanoes active today? What is its surface made of? Current missions like Venus Express and Akatsuki aim to understand its atmosphere, but no one is currently planning to venture beneath its clouds to explore its surface.

Recent Blog Articles About Venus

Venus' very pretty craters

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/03/05 04:15 CST

Each Magellan images of Venus seems to be a work of abstract art.

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Two possible futures for Akatsuki

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/01/05 12:02 CST

There are two intriguing possibilities being discussed in the Japanese media for what to do with Akatsuki, a space probe in orbit near Venus with a fully functional, highly capable suite of cameras but a damaged main engine.

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Transit of Venus June 5: Why Should You Care and How to Observe

Posted by Bruce Betts on 2012/06/02 01:56 CDT | 2 comments

A rare astronomical event occurs June 5/6. Find out why you should care and how to observe it.

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The scale of our solar system

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2011/05/02 11:26 CDT

Space.com has taken advantage of the infinitely scrollable nature of Web pages to produce a really cool infographic on the scales of orbital distances in the solar system.

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Talking Climate With Bill Nye

Posted by Mat Kaplan on 2012/07/03 04:04 CDT | 2 comments

Talk about changing climates on this world and others brought 600 people to the Boulder Theater.

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Some Details About Transits of Venus

Posted by David Shortt on 2012/05/22 06:02 CDT | 2 comments

The upcoming rare transit of Venus is one step in a long dance among Earth, Venus and the Sun. Transits of Venus follow a peculiar pattern—two transits 8 years apart, then 105.5 years with no transits, then two transits 8 years apart, then 121.5 years with no transits, for a total cycle of 243 years—and thereby hangs a tale.

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Results of ten Venus years of cloud tracking by Venus Express

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/08/29 10:55 CDT | 4 comments

What Venus Express' Visual Monitoring Camera images of Venus have taught us about the motions of Venus' atmosphere.

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Pretty picture: tessera terrain on Venus

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/02/07 04:18 CST | 1 comments

In which I dive into the Magellan radar data set and come up with some images of an unusual and possibly unique solar system terrain: tessera.

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One Day in the Solar System

Posted by Bill Dunford on 2013/04/08 09:12 CDT | 4 comments

Dispatches from five different worlds--all sent by robotic spacecraft on the same day.

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Not Necessarily Your Last Venus Transit!

Posted by Jim Bell on 2012/06/04 11:24 CDT | 3 comments

Unless you are lucky and healthy enough to live for another 105 years, tomorrow will be your last chance to see a Venus transit from the surface of the Earth. But this need not be the last transit of Venus that you will ever see.

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