The Planet Venus

1.      Why does Venus appear so bright in the sky? On what does the brightness of a planet depend?

2.      Why is Venus always near the Sun in the sky?

3.      Why do astronomers think that the near resonance between Venus's rotation and orbit, as seen from Earth, is not really a resonance?

4.      Describe one observational problem associated with Venus's near resonance of rotation and orbit.

5.      What is our current best explanation of Venus's slow, retrograde rotation?

6.      If you were standing on Venus, how would the Earth look?

7.      How did radio observations of Venus in the 1950s change our understanding of the planet?

8.      How do the continents of Venus differ from Earth's continents?

9.      What is the evidence for active volcanoes on Venus?

10.  Given that Venus like Earth has a partially melted iron core, why doesn't it have a magnetic field like Earth's?