| Venus is a Very Hot Place | | | | The clouds of Venus obscured the surface of our |
| Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system. It | | | | nearest planetary neighbour, and led people to |
| is further from the Sun than Mercury, and only | | | | speculate that the planet was either covered by |
| gets a quarter of the concentration of heat and | | | | oceans, or with swampy jungle. |
| light as Mercury, but Venus has the strongest | | | | In the 1950's, there were many stories written |
| Greenhouse Effect of all the planets of the sun. | | | | about Venus based on this nice idea. A book |
| The temperature at the surface of Venus is | | | | which I reread recently was mainly an excellent |
| about 460 degrees C (860 Degrees F), while the | | | | book mainly based in the Oceans of the Earth, |
| hot side of Mercury is about 420 degrees C. As a | | | | called The Deep Range. A minor aside in this book |
| comparison, Lead melts at 327 Degrees C and | | | | mentioned that the space agency was recruiting |
| Zinc melts at 420 degrees C; so there are many | | | | people for work in the oceans of Venus. The |
| things that we are accustomed to think of as | | | | author, Arthur C. Clarke was a visionary with an |
| solid that are liquid on Venus's surface. | | | | excellent knowledge of science, and his book |
| Atmosphere | | | | would have been up to date with the current |
| The atmosphere is much thicker than that of the | | | | beliefs. The book was published in 1957. |
| earth, and contains about 95 percent Carbon | | | | While the discovery of more of the nature of |
| Dioxide (CO2), and has clouds of Sulphur Dioxide | | | | Venus stopped this particular type of fiction, |
| (SO2). The atmospheric pressure at the surface | | | | several authors have written stories based on our |
| of this hot planet is 92 times as high as our air | | | | current beliefs about Venus. One of the earlier |
| pressure at sea level. | | | | ones was The Space Merchants by Frederick Pohl |
| The upper parts of the atmosphere are cooler, | | | | and C M Kornbluth. Surprisingly this was published |
| but not suitable for us to breathe. As well as | | | | in 1952, so these two authors were way ahead |
| having no free oxygen, there are inconvenient | | | | of their time. A more recent one is Venus by Ben |
| things like sulphuric acid in the atmosphere. | | | | Bova. Both these books are well worth reading. |
| Venus in Fiction | | | | |