Venus is frequently referred to as Earth’s malevolent twin because of its dimensions, mass, material makeup, and density. It almost seems like Venus was destined to evolve into a second Earth. However, it has instead transformed into one of the most peculiar planets within our solar system. The surface temperature is so extreme that it can melt lead, its atmosphere rains sulfuric acid, and the dense carbon dioxide air crushes anything attempting to land on it. And these characteristics are just the beginning of its oddities. Venus rotates like the other planets in our solar system, but it is one of only two that rotates in the opposite direction (with Uranus being the other). The rotation of the planet is so sluggish that one single day extends longer than its whole year. In addition, Venus lacks moons, which is atypical for a planet of its magnitude.
In contrast to Earth, our moon, and Mars, which show their geological history through craters, Venus possesses surprisingly few. It appears that its surface was thoroughly cleansed by enormous volcanic resurfacing activities hundreds of millions of years ago. It’s as though a reset button was pressed on Venus, and we are uncertain of how or why this occurred. We know that Earth was impacted by an object of significant size that resulted in the formation of our moon. Mars has a rugged terrain marked by numerous impacts. In stark contrast, Venus has remained an enigma. Nonetheless, a recent study from the University of Zurich, spearheaded by Mirco Bussmann, investigates the hypothesis of Venus being struck by an object comparable in size to Mars.
