Venus is considered the brother planet of the Earth. However, since their births they have followed different trajectories that have led them to very different destinies.
The current atmosphere of Venus is composed of 96.5% carbon dioxide. Toxic clouds of sulfur dioxide travel rapidly through it.
But Venus has not always been so unwelcoming. It is thought that, billions of years ago, its atmosphere was similar to ours. For about 3 billion years it may have had water and potential conditions for life even before our planet. It would be, after Earth, the planet in the Solar System that has kept its oceans the longest.
Its magnetic field is non-existent or it is very diminished because of its slow rotation (it takes 243 Earth days to make a complete turn on its axis), so that its protective shield against the solar wind is non-existent. During eons, the solar wind would have volatilized the water of Venus, expelling it to the space. As there was no medium in which the CO2 and other gases of the Venusian entrails could be dissolved, they accumulated massively in the atmosphere, making it very dense.
The thick atmosphere produced a devastating greenhouse effect. It is believed that the temperature on the surface can reach 450ºC. Even the rocks glow. Atmospheric pressure is also exaggerated. On the surface of Venus it is similar to that exerted by the water of the Earth at a depth of 900 meters. It is therefore normal that it is so complicated to send a probe to study the Venusian surface. In a few minutes they are burned and crushed.
Until recently, Venus was thought to be dead, like our Moon. However, it seems to have tectonic activity, although very rudimentary, similar to that of the Earth in its early stages. It has a sort of tiny tectonic plates or micro plates that would move thanks to the different temperatures that govern the different layers of the planet. It’s as if its tectonic activity is just beginning.
Along with Mercury, they are the two planets in the Solar System that have no moons.
