Venus

 

Venus is the second planet from the Sun, and the sixth largest of all the eight planets. Venus is almost the same size as Earth. Astronomers refer to Venus as Earth's sister planet because they are similar in size, mass, density and volume. The diameter of Venus is 7,521 miles.

 

Being closer to the Sun, a Venerian year is just 225 days. Venus spins more slowly than Earth, so a day on Venus is 243 days, which means that a day on Venus is longer than it's year. 

 

Venus is a very unpleasant place, with winds that blow hundreds of miles an hour and temperatures hot enough to melt most metals. Venus' surface is about 752 degrees Fahrenheit. Even though Venus is very cloudy, it is too hot for rain to form. Venus probably once had large amounts of water like Earth, but it all boiled away.  Scientists have recently found that there are still many active volcanoes on Venus!

 

 

 

Sources:

SoundFile

 

Photo from HubbleSite.

http://www.lessonplanspage.com/more/205mer.html

http://kids.nineplanets.org/venus.htm

http://www.pbs.org/lifebeyondearth/alone/venus.htm

http://www.solarviews.com/eng/venus.htm