As we direct our gaze towards the starry sky, we cannot help but wonder about our cosmic neighbors. In the past, people made the wildest guesses about the other planets in our solar system, and even the experts believed it conceivable until the 1960s that Venus, our so-called twin sister, was a full-grown jungle world with diverse living beings. Thanks to research projects completed over the years, we now know that Venus is highly toxic and scorching hot.
In this article, we will take a detailed look at the other members of our planetary system. Are you excited about the fascinating discoveries and unique spectacles in the universe? Then don’t forget to subscribe to Simply Space and click on the bell to never miss one of our videos again. By giving us a thumbs up, you’re showing us that we can keep you excited with the content of our posts.
Mercury, the smallest member of our planetary system, is also the closest to the sun. It has a mean solar distance of 3.5 million miles, and its equatorial diameter is about 3,000 miles. Despite its small size, Mercury enjoys an exceptional position in terms of temperature fluctuations. The daytime temperature on Mercury can reach up to 800 degrees Fahrenheit, while the thermometer drops to a bone-chillingly cold negative 270 degrees Fahrenheit during the night.
Apart from Venus, Mercury is the only planet in the solar system that does not have a moon. An exciting approach explains this circumstance with the fact that Mercury may have been once the natural satellite of Venus. A look at the detailed overall view of the celestial body, which was made by the NASA space probe Messenger, shows indeed Mercury has some striking similarities to our Earth’s moon. The grayish shimmering outside of the small planet is marked by innumerable craters. With a diameter of 450 miles, the Rembrandt crater is the largest impact site on Mercury and one of the largest impact sites in the entire solar system. Yet, we have only known that this imposing structure exists since 2008, when Messenger succeeded in discovering the structure, which is estimated to be 3.9 billion years old, during its second flyby.
Other surface features of Mercury include the so-called escarpments, multiple structures hundreds of miles long that have elevation differences of up to a mile.
Venus
With its solid surface, Venus, just like Mercury, Earth, and Mars, joins the list of the four rocky planets of the solar system. Venus is the planet that comes closest to our Earth on its journey through space, and the minimum distance between the two celestial bodies is only about 2 million miles. If we consider the Earth-like mass and the size of Venus, it becomes clear to us why our neighboring planet was often called the twin sister of our earthly home in the past. But it’s a comparison that fails when we take the atmosphere of Venus into view.
Venus’ atmosphere consists of more than 95 percent carbon dioxide. The surface of the planet is always hidden from our terrestrial view due to the impenetrable, always-closed cloud cover. The dense veil of clouds is composed mainly of toxic sulfuric acid, which falls into the lower layers of the atmosphere in the form of corrosive rain. As the surface of Venus heats up to an average of 869 degrees Fahrenheit, the planet’s soil is constantly grey-hot. In addition to highlands, impact craters and Caroni volcanic formations are among the characteristic objects on Venus. With a height of five miles, Matt Muns is the largest volcano on the planet. However, not all volcanic structures there have the typical shape of a fire mountain.
