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7th Apr '13 2:28:13 PM jcooper5

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standard physics correction to popsci misunderstanding

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* UsefulNotes/{{Venus}}: sometimes referred to as Earth's sister planet due to their similar sizes. It has an extremely dense atmosphere (surface pressure is 90 bars, compared to 1 on Earth) and can reach a surface temperature of 470 °C/870 °F (although at the top of Maxwell Montes, almost 7 miles above the average surface level, it's "only" 380 °C/716 °F and 60 bars). The culprit for all this? The greenhouse effect - most of that atmosphere is carbon dioxide. Earth started with the same amount, [[SealedEvilInACan but it ended up trapped in carbonate rock]]. Venus also started with the same amount of water as the earth had, but it remained in vapor form (300 atmospheres worth) and created a [[UpToEleven super greenhouse effect]] with temperatures in the ''thousands'' of degrees.[[note]]This plus the slow rotation probably wrecked any chance at plate tectonics; instead of plates constantly sliding against each other, [[LethalLavaLand there seems to be intermittent vulcanism punctuated by the entire surface melting every 500 million years or so]].[[/note]] Eventually the water molecules dissociated into hydrogen and oxygen and escaped into space, leaving Venus high and dry. Interestingly, the zone between 50 and 65 kilometers above the surface has pressures and temperatures right around Earth normal. Add to that the fact that an 80/20 nitrogen/oxygen mix would act like a lifting gas and [[TheEmpireStrikesBack Cloud City]] would be right at home. Due to Venus being mythologically associated with femininity, by convention all geographic features there are named after women or female entities, except for Maxwell Montes and Alpha and Beta Regio.[[note]]These features were first detected by ground-based radar in the mid-1960s; Alpha and Beta Regio were the first two terrain features to be isolated, and Maxwell Montes was named after James Clerk Maxwell, the formulator of the theory and equations of electromagnetism that ultimately led to the invention of radar.[[/note]] There is some argument over whether the proper adjective is 'Venusian', 'Venerean', or 'Cytherean'.

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* UsefulNotes/{{Venus}}: sometimes referred to as Earth's sister planet due to their similar sizes. It has an extremely dense atmosphere (surface pressure is 90 bars, compared to 1 on Earth) and can reach a surface temperature of 470 °C/870 °F (although at the top of Maxwell Montes, almost 7 miles above the average surface level, it's "only" 380 °C/716 °F and 60 bars). The culprit for all this? The adiabtic lapse rate - 90 atmospheres of anything will be quite hot.[[note]]An Estimate of the Surface Temperature of Venus Independent of Passive Microwave Radiometry by one C. Sagan gives it at ~700K in 1967.[[/note]]  Volcanos on Earth have belched out the same amount, [[SealedEvilInACan but it ended up trapped in carbonate rock]]. Venus also started with the same amount of water as the earth had, but it was vaporized (300 atmospheres worth) and created a [[UpToEleven super greenhouse effect]] with temperatures in the ''thousands'' of degrees.[[note]]This plus the slow rotation probably wrecked any chance at plate tectonics; instead of plates constantly sliding against each other, [[LethalLavaLand there seems to be intermittent vulcanism punctuated by the entire surface melting every 500 million years or so]].[[/note]] Eventually the water molecules dissociated into hydrogen and oxygen and escaped into space, leaving Venus high and dry. Interestingly, the zone between 50 and 65 kilometers above the surface has pressures and temperatures right around Earth normal. Add to that the fact that an 80/20 nitrogen/oxygen mix would act like a lifting gas and [[TheEmpireStrikesBack Cloud City]] would be right at home. Due to Venus being mythologically associated with femininity, by convention all geographic features there are named after women or female entities, except for Maxwell Montes and Alpha and Beta Regio.[[note]]These features were first detected by ground-based radar in the mid-1960s; Alpha and Beta Regio were the first two terrain features to be isolated, and Maxwell Montes was named after James Clerk Maxwell, the formulator of the theory and equations of electromagnetism that ultimately led to the invention of radar.[[/note]] There is some argument over whether the proper adjective is 'Venusian', 'Venerean', or 'Cytherean'.

15th Mar '13 12:12:00 PM Kitch

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15th Mar '13 12:10:20 PM Kitch

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15th Mar '13 11:55:47 AM Kitch

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15th Mar '13 11:55:31 AM Kitch