AST 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Subduction, Photodissociation, Venus Express
Document Summary
Venus and mars are an interesting pair of planets to compare with earth, as they are both fairly close to the earth"s mass, and at close to the same distance from the sun. However, they are enormously different both from earth and from each other in their current properties. The density of venus is similar to that of earth also, so we can infer that its overall elemental composition is about the same. We cannot see the surface of venus in optical light. This is because venus is shrouded in a thick, perpetually cloudy atmosphere. In fact, we can"t even see much in the way of structure in the atmosphere in visible light. Ultraviolet reveal the flow patterns in the venusian atmosphere in much more detail. And radar mapping, both earth-based, and satellite-based, have given us a fairly detailed view of the surface. We also have visible images of small patches of the venusian surface from a series of.
