Christiaan Huygens, a Dutch astronomer, first hypothesised the existence of Venus's atmosphere in 1698 when he observed the planet through his telescope. Despite viewing its waxing and waning phases, he could not see any features on its surface and guessed that a thick atmosphere must be obscuring his view. Years later in 1761, Russian Mikhail V Lomonosov detected the refraction of solar rays while observing the transit of Venus across the Sun - and thus discovered the atmosphere of Venus.
In 1962, Venus became the first planet to be visited by spacecraft, when NASA's Mariner 2 flew within 34,854km of the planet. Since then, nearly 40 missions have visited Venus and this month marks the 45th anniversary of NASA's Pioneer Venus mission and the Soviet Venera 11 and 12, all of which collected data about the planet's hostile atmosphere.
Venus is the second planet from the Sun and our nearest planetary neighbour. It has a rocky body similar in nature to Mercury, Earth and Mars. Named after the goddess of love and beauty, and described as Earth's twin, Venus is only 638.4km smaller in diameter than Earth and has a similar mass.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 2023-Ausgabe von BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 2023-Ausgabe von BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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Water, Water, Everywhere?
Penny Wozniakiewicz investigates why astronomers are so concerned with finding water in the Solar System, and why it is vital to our exploration of space
O&A WITH AN ECLIPSE CHASER
On 14 October 2023, an annular eclipse passed across mainland USA. Comedian and stargazer Jon Culshaw was there to witness it
Bresser ISA Space Exploration NASA 70/700 AZ telescope
This beginners' package has everything you need to see the Sun, Moon and planets
Ursa Major 6-inch f/8 Planetary Dobsonian
A decent option for would-be planetary observers on a limited budget
Use freeware to create star trail images
How to turn your frames into beautiful star trail photos in a few clicks
Venus's hostile atmosphere
Katrin Raynor takes a look at a planet where the skies boil and the clouds rain acid
Build your EYEPIECE COLLECTION
Great eyepieces are crucial to any astronomical setup. Here Tim Jardine arms you with the info you need to choose the best ones to invest in
THE BIG THREE
The top sights to observe or image this month
The remains of CREATION UNDERSTANDING THE CMB
Left over from the Big Bang, the cosmic microwave background gives astronomers an insight into the entire history of our Universe. Ezzy Pearson explains
A December GRAND TOUR
Just like the epic journeys of the Voyager probes to our Solar System's outer planets, this tour takes you to the gas and ice giants as they line up in the night sky this month. Stuart Atkinson is your guide