Psychic readings can provide answers to many of your life questions, including which planet is nearest the Earth?
Answer may surprise you! While Venus does come closer than any other planet to our home planet on average, it may not be considered the nearest.
Mercury
Mercury is the first planet from the Sun and orbits more closely than Venus or Earth, making its study difficult compared to that of most terrestrial planets. Due to its small size and eccentric orbital path, Mercury also requires extensive investigation.
Astronomers remain bemused by Mercury’s peculiar density. Its metallic core accounts for two-thirds of its volume compared to about one third on both the Moon and Earth’s crust, and while Mercury resembles lunar terrain in appearance it has denser surfaces with less dark lava flows known as maria.
Mars’ surface is covered with thousands of craters and basins, along with scarps (cliffs) up to one kilometer high that stretch hundreds of kilometers in length. MESSENGER was able to map many of these features at resolutions as small as 5 km; additionally it confirmed water ice formation and organic molecules within shadowed craters at both poles.
Mercury does not possess an atmosphere; however, an ultrathin exosphere composed of hydrogen, helium, sodium, calcium, oxygen and potassium has an equivalent pressure to that of Earth’s atmosphere and may have formed due to particles released by volcanoes and micrometeorite impacts.
As with the other terrestrial planets, Mercury is heated by solar radiation and emits some of its own heat into space, leading to wide variations in surface temperatures across its surface ranging from the scorching hot side that faces directly towards the Sun to cooler polar regions where sunlight barely penetrates.
Due to Mercury’s eccentric orbit, it takes an unusually long time for it to return to the same spot in its cycle. Therefore, when planning observations of Mercury it is necessary to time them at its greatest elongation; which usually occurs in autumn when Sun is at its lowest point in sky.
BepiColombo will do what MESSENGER and Mariner 10 couldn’t: collect high-resolution data of Mercury’s surface in high resolution. That is something BepiColombo will accomplish by spending most of its time orbiting close to its surface at a distance that’s 480km closer than its farthest reach – placing one of its twin spacecraft, MPO, into an unforgiving environment that exposes it to solar radiation 10 times greater than what it receives on working laptop computers at home!
Venus
Venus, the Roman goddess of beauty and loveliness, is the brightest object in the night sky. However, behind its beautiful exterior lies an immense planet filled with storms and infernos which defy explanation.
Venus is baked by the greenhouse effect, with surface temperatures reaching an infernal 863degF (464degC). Early telescopic observations revealed an ever-present veil of clouds that led to speculation that once upon a time Venus may have been more verdant – an idea popular in science fiction stories about heroes fighting megafauna in dense jungles. But in 1962’s discovery of a thick atmosphere filled with carbon dioxide put an end to such speculations.
Venus follows an almost circular orbit which extends about 108 million km (67 million miles) from the Sun. At perihelion – closest to it – distance is roughly two thirds that at aphelion, farthest away. Additionally, Venus boasts the lowest degree of eccentricity of any planet with deviation from circularity only occurring about once every 150 days.
Venus shares many characteristics with Earth: multilayered atmosphere with differing temperatures and chemical composition at different altitudes; hot surface temperatures gradually cool off with altitude through dry adiabatic lapse (sim10textK/km). To provide reference data about Venus atmosphere properties such as density, pressure, thermodynamic gas properties etc (Seiff et al 1985) Venus International Reference Atmosphere was developed.
Volcanism is an integral feature of Venus’s surface, with subduction being one major source. Subduction involves sliding one continental “plate” beneath another which then can trigger volcanic eruptions and alter its surface shape; during Magellan’s five-year mission in 1994 it observed intense volcanism as well as chains of towering mountains.
Venus lacks natural moons, but does possess several quasi-satellites (please see sidebar for more information). These objects are the remains of asteroids that collided and disintegrated within Venus’ orbit, leaving complex orbital shapes with unpredictable behavior patterns and instability – often giving rise to irregular behavior from these objects.
Mars
As our closest planetary neighbor, Mars has long held the interest of both scientists and regular people alike. It bears many similarities to Earth, such as having features similar to our own that hint at past water bodies such as river valleys, deltas and lakebeds; further evidence exists for water on Mars today in form of frozen water ice sheets or briny (salty) liquid water that seeps down hillsides or crater walls.
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and one of two nearby planetary neighbors of Earth. Although much smaller than our home planet, Mars stands out in our night sky due to being covered with dust particles which scatter sunlight back onto itself and absorb it, giving the surface its red hue.
Mars orbit is an elliptical one and takes it from farthest from the Sun (aphelion) to closest (perihelion). At this year’s opposition, Mars will come closer to Earth than at any time in nearly 60k years!
Mars can appear as a bright point in the night sky when it is closest to us, and will become brighter over time as its distance increases. Over time, however, its brightness will begin to dim before dissipating altogether as Mars moves further from our planet.
Mars differs significantly from Earth in that it lacks atmosphere and liquid oceans; instead it features a thick, rocky shell made primarily of basalt volcanic rock which has low melting points to endure extreme temperatures. Beneath this shell lies an iron and nickel metallic core with silicate mantles similar to Earth.
Mars is not conducive to human habitation. With its harsh, cold environment and barren landscape, it makes one of the least suitable environments in which for us humans to exist. Yet robotic explorers such as NASA’s Perseverance rover have proven useful as pathfinders towards eventual human missions to Mars; finding signs of life billions of years ago as well as some indications for possible microbial activity billions later; however further study will likely be required before any significant human missions take place there.
Saturn
Saturn is the second-largest planet in our solar system and stands out with its exquisite rings and natural satellites. Saturn’s rings contain billions of tiny dust particles ranging in size from microscopic to house-sized – likely remnants of comets or moon fragments that had orbited before being torn apart by gravity.
Saturn is an enormous ball of hydrogen and helium approximately 750 times larger than Earth, comprising mostly hydrogen with some helium elements thrown in for good measure. Due to being so much lighter, however, Saturn floats freely through space; its yellow hue comes from ammonia crystals in its upper atmosphere; additionally its famous aurora can be seen glowing near Saturn’s poles as first witnessed by NASA’s Voyager spacecraft in 1979 and most spectacular aurora images come from Hubble Space Telescope images.
Saturn’s 83 known moons, led by Titan, the largest in our solar system, provide it with additional tools when it comes to planetary formation and evolution. For example, gravitational pull from its rings and moons causes Saturn’s rotational axis to tilt from its orbital plane; furthermore these forces cause its spin axis to wobble, or “precess,” like a top.
Saturn’s precession, along with its tilted rings and rotation axis tilt, create its distinct equinox appearance on clear nights; observers can witness its rings rise in the east and set in the west.
As the planet draws near to opposition, its brightness will gradually increase and reach its highest point on Sept. 8. From that date forward, its visible for an hour or more before dawn depending on your location – providing some of the best views of our ringed planet during this period.
Make sure to use binoculars or a telescope to get a good look at Saturn – it should appear as an unmoving point of light in the nighttime sky. For more information about Saturn and its place within our universe, visit National Science Foundation’s website.