GEOL 212 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Orbital Eccentricity, Orbital Inclination, Orbital Period

• School: University of Maryland
• Department: Geology
• Course: GEOL 212
• Professor: John Merck

Document Summary

Radius: 6052 km (compared with 1738 for the moon, 6357 for. Density: 5. 20 x 103 103kg m-3 (compared with 3. 34 for the moon, Average distance from sun: 0. 72 au (108. 21 x 106 km) Axial rotational period (length of day with reference to background stars): 243 days (but it is retrograde!) Orbital eccentricity: 0. 007 (compared with 0. 017 for earth) Easiest planet to view with the naked eye. Strange days: axial rotation is slow but retrograde. Atmospheres interval between sequential sunrises is 117 days: average atmospheric pressure at the surface is 92 bars, co2, opaque clouds of sulfuric acid. Greenhouse effect: co2 is powerful greenhouse gas, it traps heat. Venus has the hottest surface 733 k (463 deg.