Venus Compared to Earth
Written by Fraser Cain
Earth and Venus. Image credit: NASA
Some scientists consider Venus to be Earth's twin planet. Venus is very similar in size and mass compared to Earth, but it has many differences too. Let's take a look at Venus compared to Earth.
First, let's take a look at size. The diameter of Venus is 12,100 km. Compare this to the diameter of Earth: 12,742 km. On average, Venus is only 95% the diameter of Earth. That's pretty close, and you can see why scientists consider it a twin planet.
The mass of Venus is 4.868 x 1024 kg. That's approximately 82% the mass of the Earth. Again, that's close to being a twin of Earth.
The surface gravity on Venus is 90% the gravity you would experience on Earth. If you weighed 100 kg on Earth, you would only weigh 90 kg on Venus. That's better than dieting.
There are a few ways that Venus is very different compared to Earth; however. For starters, consider the average temperature. On Venus, the average temperature is 735 Kelvin, or 462 degrees Celsius. That's the hottest planet in the Solar System. Even the hottest temperature recorded on Earth is only 58 degrees Celsius.
And the air pressure on Venus compared to Earth is incredibly dense. If you could stand on the surface of Venus, you would experience 92 times as much atmospheric pressure as Earth.
Want to see the size of other planets? Here's an article about the size of Jupiter and the size of Saturn.
Want more information on Venus? Here's a link to NASA's World Book on Venus, and here's NASA's Solar System Exploration Guide to Venus.
We have also recorded a whole episode of Astronomy Cast that's just about planet Venus. Listen to it here, Episode 50: Venus.
Filed under: Astronomy
