Earth vs. Venus

Main Difference

The main difference between Earth and Venus is that the Earth is a third planet from the Sun in the Solar System and Venus is a telluric planet, second-closest to the Sun

• Earth

  Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. According to radiometric dating and other sources of evidence, Earth formed over 4.5 billion years ago. Earth’s gravity interacts with other objects in space, especially the Sun and the Moon, Earth’s only natural satellite. Earth orbits around the Sun in 365.26 days, a period known as an Earth year. During this time, Earth rotates about its axis about 366.26 times.Earth’s axis of rotation is tilted with respect to its orbital plane, producing seasons on Earth. The gravitational interaction between Earth and the Moon causes tides, stabilizes Earth’s orientation on its axis, and gradually slows its rotation. Earth is the densest planet in the Solar System and the largest and most massive of the four terrestrial planets.Earth’s lithosphere is divided into several rigid tectonic plates that migrate across the surface over many millions of years. About 71% of Earth’s surface is covered with water, mostly by oceans. The remaining 29% is land consisting of continents and islands that together contain many lakes, rivers and other sources of water that contribute to the hydrosphere. The majority of Earth’s polar regions are covered in ice, including the Antarctic ice sheet and the sea ice of the Arctic ice pack. Earth’s interior remains active with a solid iron inner core, a liquid outer core that generates the Earth’s magnetic field, and a convecting mantle that drives plate tectonics.

  Within the first billion years of Earth’s history, life appeared in the oceans and began to affect the Earth’s atmosphere and surface, leading to the proliferation of aerobic and anaerobic organisms. Some geological evidence indicates that life may have arisen as much as 4.1 billion years ago. Since then, the combination of Earth’s distance from the Sun, physical properties, and geological history have allowed life to evolve and thrive. In the history of the Earth, biodiversity has gone through long periods of expansion, occasionally punctuated by mass extinction events. Over 99% of all species that ever lived on Earth are extinct. Estimates of the number of species on Earth today vary widely; most species have not been described. Over 7.6 billion humans live on Earth and depend on its biosphere and natural resources for their survival. Humans have developed diverse societies and cultures; politically, the world has about 200 sovereign states.

• Venus

  Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. As the second-brightest natural object in the night sky after the Moon, Venus can cast shadows and can be, on rare occasion, visible to the naked eye in broad daylight. Venus lies within Earth’s orbit, and so never appears to venture far from the Sun, either setting in the west just after dusk or rising in the east a bit before dawn. Venus orbits the Sun every 224.7 Earth days. With a rotation period of 243 Earth days, it takes longer to rotate about its axis than any other planet in the Solar System and does so in the opposite direction to all but Uranus (meaning the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east). Venus does not have any moons, a distinction it shares only with Mercury among planets in the Solar System.Venus is a terrestrial planet and is sometimes called Earth’s “sister planet” because of their similar size, mass, proximity to the Sun, and bulk composition. It is radically different from Earth in other respects. It has the densest atmosphere of the four terrestrial planets, consisting of more than 96% carbon dioxide. The atmospheric pressure at the planet’s surface is about 92 times the sea level pressure of Earth, or roughly the pressure at 900 m (3,000 ft) underwater on Earth. Venus has by far the hottest surface of any planet in the Solar System, with a mean temperature of 737 K (464 °C; 867 °F), even though Mercury is closer to the Sun. Venus is shrouded by an opaque layer of highly reflective clouds of sulfuric acid, preventing its surface from being seen from space in visible light. It may have had water oceans in the past, but these would have vaporized as the temperature rose due to a runaway greenhouse effect. The water has probably photodissociated, and the free hydrogen has been swept into interplanetary space by the solar wind because of the lack of a planetary magnetic field. Venus’ surface is a dry desertscape interspersed with slab-like rocks and is periodically resurfaced by volcanism.

  As one of the brightest objects in the sky, Venus has been a major fixture in human culture for as long as records have existed. It has been made sacred to gods of many cultures, and has been a prime inspiration for writers and poets as the “morning star” and “evening star”. Venus was the first planet to have its motions plotted across the sky, as early as the second millennium BC.Due to its proximity to Earth, Venus has been a prime target for early interplanetary exploration. It was the first planet beyond Earth visited by a spacecraft (Mariner 2 in 1962), and the first to be successfully landed on (by Venera 7 in 1970). Venus’ thick clouds render observation of its surface impossible in visible light, and the first detailed maps did not emerge until the arrival of the Magellan orbiter in 1991. Plans have been proposed for rovers or more complex missions, but they are hindered by Venus’ hostile surface conditions.

  The possibility of life on Venus has long been a topic of speculation, and in recent years has received active research. Following a 2019 observation that the light absorbance of the upper cloud layers was consistent with the presence of microorganisms, a September 2020 article in Nature Astronomy announced the detection of phosphine gas, a biomarker, in concentrations higher than can be explained by any known abiotic source. However, doubts have been cast on these observations due to the failure to detect phosphine at other wavelengths and data-processing issues.

• Earth (noun)

  the planet on which we live; the world

  “the diversity of life on earth”

• Earth (noun)

  the surface of the world as distinct from the sky or the sea

  “the pilot brought the plane gently back to earth”

• Earth (noun)

  the present abode of humankind, as distinct from heaven or hell

  “God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven”

• Earth (noun)

  the substance of the land surface; soil

  “a layer of earth”

• Earth (noun)

  one of the four elements in ancient and medieval philosophy and in astrology (considered essential to the nature of the signs Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn)

  “an earth sign”

• Earth (noun)

  used in names of stable, dense, non-volatile inorganic substances, e.g. fuller’s earth

  “these crayons are made with a mixture of native earths plus softeners such as China clay”

• Earth (noun)

  the substance of the human body

  “we now commit his body to the ground: earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust”

• Earth (noun)

  electrical connection to the ground, regarded as having zero electrical potential.

  “ensure metal fittings are electrically bonded to earth”

• Earth (noun)

  the underground lair of a badger or fox.

• Earth (verb)

  connect (an electrical device) with the ground

  “the front metal panels must be soundly earthed”

• Earth (verb)

  drive (a fox) to its underground lair.

• Earth (verb)

  (of a fox) run to its underground lair.

• Earth (verb)

  cover the root and lower stem of a plant with heaped-up earth

  “the stems can be earthed up when the plant is about one foot high”