IS THERE LIFE ON VENUS?

A discovery in the cloud decks of the hostile planet could be the smoking gun for astrobiologists

- Lee Cavendish

Earth VS Venus

Sometimes called ‘Earth’s Twin’, Venus is in fact a very different world to ours

EARTH

AVERAGE DISTANCE FROM THE SUN

150 MILLION KILOMETRES (93 MILLION MILES)

PLANET RADIUS

6,378 KILOMETRES (3,963 MILES)

PLANET DENSITY

5,520 KILOGRAMS PER CUBIC METRE

SURFACE TEMPERATURE

15 DEGREES CELSIUS (59 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT)

ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION

78% NITROGEN, 21% OXYGEN, 1% ARGON

VENUS

AVERAGE DISTANCE FROM THE SUN

108 MILLION KILOMETRES (67 MILLION MILES)

PLANET RADIUS

6,052 KILOMETRES (3,760 MILES)

PLANET DENSITY

5,250 KILOGRAMS PER CUBIC METRE

SURFACE TEMPERATURE

465 DEGREES CELSIUS (869 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT)

ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION

96% CARBON DIOXIDE, 3% NITROGEN