Existing comment:
Venus
This tiny sphere is the planet Venus at one 10-billionth actual size.
If Venus were this big, how far away would the Sun and other planets be? Look at the map on the lower panel to find your position in the solar system.
Voyage to Venus
Venus' highest mountain, Maxwell Montes, rises taller than Earth's Mount Everest. Overhead, clouds of sulfuric acid blanket the sky, carried by steady winds of 220 mph (360 km/hr). It is a world with acid rain, lightning, and possibly active volcanoes. Earth has one volcano more than 60 miles (100 km) across--Venus has over 100.
Earth's Twin?
The world once called Earth's twin is far different from the tropical paradise we imagined. Spacecraft have landed on Venus, but none has ever survived more than 2 hours--cooked by the extreme temperature. The crushing weight of the atmosphere feels like the pressure half a mile (1 km) beneath Earth's oceans.
The Hottest World
Venus' thick atmosphere of mostly carbon dioxide traps the Sun's energy. This "greenhouse effect" raised the planet's surface temperature to 800°F (470°C)--even hotter than Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun. Several billion years ago Venus may have had oceans. They have long since evaporated.
Walk to Earth about 6 steps
Imagine
Viewed from Venus, Earth's moon does not go through phases; it is always full.
Walk to Mercury about 8 steps
In the real solar system, the planets never line up as they orbit the Sun.
Voyage is an exhibition of the National Center for Earth and Space Science and the Smithsonian Institution. It is designed for permanent installation in communities worldwide.
http://voyagesolarsystem.org |