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Definition: Venus |
VenusNoun1. The second nearest planet to the sun; visible as an early `morning star' or an `evening star'; rotates slowly clockwise (in the opposite direction from the normal rotation of the planets); "before it was known that they were the same object the evening star was called Venus and the morning star was called Lucifer". 2. Goddess of love; counterpart of Greek Aphrodite. 3. Type genus of the family Veneridae: genus of edible clams with thick oval shells. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
"Venus" is a name that signifies or is derived from: "love". |
Date "Venus" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
Etymology: Venus \Ve"nus\, noun. [Latin expression Venus, -eris, the goddess of love, the planet Venus.]. (references) |
"Venus" is a common misspelling or typo for: vends, venous, venue. |
| Domain | Definition |
Aerospace | See planet, table. (references) |
Biographical Satire | VENUS, a dream of a girl who lived long ago, posed for her statue, and had to die after everybody fell in love with her. Was born and painted at sea. Married at an early age. Was a regular heart breaker. V. had an affair with one Adonis, and later with Vulcan. Not much is known of her old-ladyhood, as she refused to pose for statues when advanced in years. Ambition: Parisian gowns, the love of the gods. Recreation: Love. Address: The Louvre, Paris. The Uffizi Gallery, Florence. Clubs: She was too good looking to be a suffragette. Source: Who was Who: 5000BC - 1914. |
Health | The second planet in order from the sun. It has no known natural satellites. It is one of the four inner or terrestrial planets of the solar system. (references) |
Literature | Venus Love; the goddess of love; courtship. Copper was called Venus by the alchemists. (See Aphrodite "Venus smiles not in a house of tears." Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, iv.l. Venus is the name of the second planet from the sun, and the nearest heavenly body to the earth except the moon. Statues of Venus. The most celebrated statues of this goddes are the Venus de Medici, the Aphrodite of Praxiteles, the Venus of Milo, The Venus Victorious of Canova, and the Venus of Gibson. Capitoline Venus (The). In the Capitoline Museum of Rome. Canova's Venus is the most noted of modern sculpture. (1757-1822.) Uranian Venus of the Lusiad is the impersonation of heavenly love. She pleads to Destiny for the Lusians, and appears to them in the form of "the silver star of love." Plato says she was the daughter of Heaven (Uranos), and Xenophon adds that "she presided over the love of wisdom and virtue, the pleasures of the soul." Nigidius says that this "heavenly Venus" was not born from the sea-foam, but from an egg which two fishes conveyed to the seashore. This egg was hatched by two pigeons whiter than snow, and have birth to the Assyrian Venus, who instructed mankind in religion, virtue, and equity. (See Aphrodite Venus in astrology "signifiethe white men or browne ... joyfull, laughter, liberall, pleasers, dauncers, entertayners of women, players, perfumers, musitions, messengers of love." "Venus loveth ryot and dispense." Chaucer: Canterbury Tale, 6,282. My Venus turns out a whelp (Latin). All my swans are changed to geese; my cake is dough. In dice the best cast (three sixes) was called "Venus," and the worst (three aces) was called "Canis." My win-all turns out to be a lose-all. The Island of Venus in the Lusiad is a paradisaical island raised by "Divine Love," as a reward for the heroes of the poem. Here Venus, the ocean-goddess, gave her hand to Gama, and committed to him the empire of the sea. It was situate "near where the bowers of Paradise are placed," not far from the mountains of Imaus, whence the Ganges and Indus derive their source. This paradise of Love is described in the ninth book. We have several parallel Edens, as the "gardens of Alcinous," in the Odyssey, bk. vii.; the "island of Circe," Odyssey, x.; the "Elysium" of Virgil, Æneid, vi.; the "island and palace of Alcina" or Vice, in Orlando Furioso, vi. vii.; the "country of Logistilla" or Virtue, in the same epic, bk. x.; the description of "Paradise," visited by Astolpho, the English duke, in bk. xxxiv.; the "island of Armida," in Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered; the "bower of Acrasia," in Spenser's Faërie Queene, the "palace with its forty doors," the keys of which were entrusted to prince Agib, whose adventures form the tale of the "Third Calendar," in The Arabian Nights' Entertainments etc. E. A. Poe calls Eden "Aiden," which he rhymes with "laden." (The Raven, 16.) (See Venusberg.). Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Space | Second planet from the sun, a terrestrial planet. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Aphrodite (Ἀφροδῑ´τη, "risen from sea-foam") is the Greek goddess of love, sex and beauty.
Worship
The epithet Aphrodite Acidalia was occasionally added to her name, after the spring of the same name in which she used to bathe in, located in Boeotia (Virgil I, 720). She was also called Kypris or Cytherea after her alleged birth-places in Cyprus and Cythera, respectively. The island of Cythera was a center of her cult. She was associated with Hesperia and frequently accompanied by the Oreads, nymphs of the mountains.
Aphrodite had a festival of her own, Aphrodisiac, which was celebrated all over Greece but particularly in Athens and Corinth. Intercourse with her priestesses was considered a method of worshipping Aphrodite.
Aphrodite was associated with, and often depicted with dolphins, doves, swans, pomegranates and lime trees.
Her Roman analogue is Venus. Her Mesopotamian counterpart was Ishtar and her Syro-Palestinian counterpart was Astarte; her Etruscan equivalent was Turan.
Venus was often referred to with epithet Venus Erycina ("of the heather") after Mt. Eryx, Sicily, one of the centers of her cult.
Birth
Originally she was considered a daughter of Zeus and Dione, one of the ocean nymphs. By classical times, however, an alternate story of her birth had gained precedence, that she was born of the sea foam near Paphos, Cyprus after Cronus cut off Uranus' genitals and the god's blood dropped on the sea. The Iliad refers to both versions. After this story became standard, Aphrodite was sometimes referred to as "Dione". Sometimes she was considered to have two manifestations, reflecting both stories, Aprhodite Ourania ("heavenly"), and Aphrodite Pandemos ("Common"). According to Plato these two manifestations represented her role in homosexuality and heterosexuality, respectively (homosexuality being more divine for Plato). Alternatively, Aphrodite was a daughter of Thalassa and Zeus.
Adulthood
Marriage With Hephaestus
Due to her immense beauty, Zeus was frightened she would be the cause of violence between the other gods. He married her off to Hephaestus, the dour, humorless god of smithing. Hephaestus was overjoyed at being married to the goddess of beauty and forged her beautiful jewelry, including a girdle that made her even more irresistible to men. Her unhappiness with her marriage caused Aphrodite to seek out companionship from others, most frequently Ares, but also Adonis, Anchises and more. Hephaestus once cleverly caught Ares and Aphrodite in bed with a net, and brought all the other Olympian gods together to mock them. Hephaestus would not free them until they promised to end their affair, but both escaped as soon as the net was lifted and their promise was not kept.
Aphrodite and Psyche
Aphrodite was jealous of the beauty of a mortal woman named Psyche. She asked Eros to use his golden arrows to cause Psyche to fall in love with the ugliest man on earth. Eros agreed but then fell in love with Psyche on his own, or by accidentally pricking himself with a golden arrow. Meanwhile, Psyche's parents were anxious that their daughter remained unmarried. They consulted an oracle who told them she was destined for no mortal lover, but a monster who lived on top of a particular mountain. Psyche was resigned to her fate and climbed to the top of the mountain. There, Zephyrus, the west wind, gently floated her downwards. She entered a cave on the appointed mountain, surprised to find it full of jewelry and finery. Eros visited her every night in the cave and they made love; he demanded only that she never light any lamps because he did not want her to know who he was (having wings made him distinctive). Her two sisters, jealous of Psyche, convinced her to do so one night and she lit a lamp, recognizing him instantly. A drop of hot lamp oil fell on Eros' chest and he awoke, then fled.
When Psyche told her two jealous elder sisters what had happened; they rejoiced secretly and each separately walked to the top of the mountain and did as Psyche described her entry to the cave, hoping Eros would pick them instead. Zephyrus did not pick them and they fell to their deaths at the base of the mountain.
Psyche searched for her lover across much of Greece, finally stumbling into a temple to Demeter, where the floor was covered with piles of mixed grains. She started sorting the grains into organized piles and, when she finished, Demeter spoke to her, telling her that the best way to find Eros was to find his mother, Aphrodite, and earn her blessing. Psyche found a temple to Aphrodite and entered it. Aphrodite assigned her a similar task to Demeter's temple, but gave her an impossible deadline to finish it by. Eros intervened, for he still loved her, and caused some ants to organize the grains for her. Aphrodite was outraged at her success and told her to go to a field where golden sheep grazed and get some golden wool. Psyche went to the field and and saw the sheep but was stopped by a river-god, whose river she had to cross to enter the field. He told her the sheep were mean and vicious and would kill her, but if she waited until noontime, the sheep would go the shade on the other side of the field and sleep; she could pick the wool that stuck to the branches and bark of the trees. Psyche did so and Aphrodite was even more outraged at her survival and success. Finally, Aphrodite claimed that the stress of caring for her son, depressed and ill as a result of Psyche's unfaithfulness, had caused her to lose some of her beauty. Psyche was to go to Hades and ask Persephone, the queen of the underworld, for a bit of her beauty in a black box that Aphrodite gave to Psyche. Psyche walked to a tower, deciding that the quickest way to the underworld would be to die. A voice stopped her at the last moment and told her a route that would allow her to enter and return still living, as well as telling her how to pass Cerberus, Charon and the other dangers of the route. She pacified Cerberus, the three-headed dog, with a sweet honey-cake and paid Charon an obolus to take her into Hades. Once there, Persephone offered her a feast but Psyche refused, knowing it would keep her in the underworld forever.
Psyche left the underworld and decided to open the box and take a little bit of the beauty for herself. Inside was a "Stygian sleep" which overtook her. Eros, who had forgiven her, flew to her body and healed her, then begged Zeus and Aphrodite for their consent to his wedding of Psyche. They agreed and Zeus made her immortal.
Adonis
Aphrodite was Adonis' lover and had a part in his birth. She urged Myrrha or Smyrna to commit incest with her father, Theias, the King of Assyria. Another version says Myrrha's father was Cinyras of Cyprus. Myrrha's nurse helped with the scheme. When Theias discovered this, he flew into a rage, chasing his daughter with a knife. The gods turned her into a myrrh tree and Adonis eventually sprung from this tree. Alternatively, Aphrodite turned her into a tree and Adonis was born when Theias shot the tree with an arrow or when a boar used its tusks to tear the tree's bark off.
Once Adonis was born, Aphrodite took him under her wing, seducing him with the help of Helene, her friend, and was entranced by his unearthly beauty. She gave him to Persephone to watch over, but Persephone was also amazed at his beauty and refused to give him back. The argument between the two goddess' was settled either by Zeus or Calliope, with Adonis spending four months with Aphrodite, four months with Persephone and four months of the years with whomever he chose. He always chose Aphrodite because Persephone was the cold, unfeeling goddess of the underworld.
Adonis was eventually killed by a jealous Ares.
The Judgement of Paris
The gods and goddesses as well as various mortals were invited to the marriage of Peleus and Thetis (the eventual parents of Achilles). Only the goddess Eris (Discord) was not invited, but she arrived with a golden apple inscribed with the words "to the most beautiful," which she threw among the goddesses. Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena all claimed the apple, and the matter was put before Paris, the most handsome mortal. Hera tried to bribe Paris with an earthly kingdom, while Athena offered great military skill, but Aphrodite was judged most beautiful when she offered Paris the most beautiful mortal woman as a wife. This woman was Helen, and her abduction by Paris led to the Trojan War.
Pygmalion and Galatea
Pygmalion was a lonely sculptor who made a woman out of ivory and called her Galatea. He prayed to Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and love, who took pity on the lovesick artist, and brought to life the exquisite sculpture, which was named Galatea. Pygmalion loved Galatea and they were soon married.
Other Stories
In one version of the story of Hippolytus, Aphrodite was the catalyst for his death. He scorned the worship of Aphrodite for Artemis and, in revenge, Aphrodite caused his step-mother, Phaedra to fall in love with him, knowing Hippolytus would reject her. In the most popular version of the story, Phaedra seeks revenge against Hippolytus by killing herself and, in her suicide note, telling Theseus, her husband and Hippolytus' father, that Hippolytus had raped her. Theseus then murdered his own son before Artemis told him the truth.
King Glaucus of Corinth angered Aphrodite and she made her horses angry during the funeral games of King Pelias. They tore him apart. His ghost supposedly frightened horses during the Isthmian Games.
Aphrodite was often accompanied by the Charites.
Aphrodite was very protective of her son, Aeneas, who fought in the Trojan War. Diomedes almost killed Aeneas in battle but Aphrodite saved him. Diomedes wounded Aphrodite and she dropped her son, fleeing to Mt. Olympus. Aeneas was then eneveloped in a cloud by Apollo, who took him to Pergamos, a sacred spot in Troy. Artemis healed Aeneas there.
She turned Abas to stone for his pride.
She turned Anaxarete to stone for reacting so dispassionately to Iphis' pleas to love him, even after his suicide.
Alternative: Acidalia, Kypris, Despina, and Cytherea
Consorts/Children
See also: Venus
- Deities
- Ares
- Anteros
- Eros
- Harmonia
- Himeros
- Cronus
- Pothos
- Dionysus
- Charites
- Aglaea
- Euphrosyne
- Thalia
- Hymenaios
- Priapus
- Hephaestus
- Hermes
- Eunomia
- Hermaphroditus
- Peitho
- Rhodos
- Tyche
- Mortals
- Adonis
- Anchises
- Aeneas
- Butes
- Eryx
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Aphrodite."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
See:
This is a disambiguation page; that is, one that just points to other pages that might otherwise have the same name. If you followed a link here, you might want to go back and fix that link to point to the appropriate specific page.
- Venus (goddess): the Roman goddess of love
- Venus (planet): the second closest planet to the Sun in our solar system
- In alchemy, the name Venus was used for the metal copper (since its name derives from Cyprus, the island of Venus)
- Venus de Milo, an ancient sculpture symbolizing an ideal of female beauty
- Venus, Texas
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Venus."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Venus is the Roman goddess of love, equivalent to Greek Aphrodite and Etruscan Turan. Other figures possibly corresponding to Venus are:
The Birth of Venus, by Botticelli Her cult began in Ardea and Lavinium, Latium. On August 18, 293 BC, her oldest temple was built. August 18 was then a festival called the Vinalia Rustica. On April 1, the Veneralia was celebrated in honor of Venus Verticordia, the protector against vice. On April 23 215 BC, a temple was built on the Capitol dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasum.
- Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli in Aztec mythology
- Kukulcan in Maya mythology
- Sif in the Norse mythos
Julius Caesar introduced Venus Genetrix as a goddess of motherhood and domesticity.
Venus was often depicted in painting and in sculpture.
See also: Aphrodite, Suadela, Venus (planet), The birth of Venus
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Venus (mythology)."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
simple:Venus
Venus Orbital characteristics Avg Dist from Sol 0.72333199 AU Mean radius 108,208,930 km Eccentricity 0.00677323 Revolution period 224.701 days Synodic period 583.92 days Avg. Orbital Speed 35.0214 km/s Inclination 3.39471° Number of satellitess 0 Physical characteristics Equatorial diameter 12,103.6 km Surface area 4.60×108 km2 Mass 4.869×1024 kg Mean density 5.24 g/cm3 Surface gravity 8.87 m/s2 Rotation period -243243.0187 days Axial tilt 2.64° Albedo 0.65 Escape Speed 10.36 km/s Surface* temp
min* mean max 228 K 737 K 773 K (*min temperature refers to cloud tops only) Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 9321.9 kPa Carbon dioxide 96% Nitrogen 3% Sulfur dioxide
Water vapor
Carbon monoxide
Argon
Helium
Neon
Carbonyl sulfide
Hydrogen chloride
Hydrogen fluoridetrace Venus is the second planet from the Sun, named after the Roman goddess Venus. It is a terrestrial planet, very similar in size and bulk composition to Earth; it is sometimes called Earth's "sister planet" as a result of this similarity. Sometimes (inaccurately) referred to as the "morning star" or the "evening star", it is by far the brightest "star" in the sky. Because Venus is closer to the Sun than Earth is, it is always in roughly the same direction as the Sun, so can only be seen just before sunrise or just after sunset.
Physical characteristics
Atmosphere
Venus has an atmosphere consisting mainly of carbon dioxide and a small amount of nitrogen, with a pressure at the surface about 90 times that of Earth (a pressure equivalent to a depth of 1 kilometer under Earth's ocean). This enormous CO2-rich atmosphere results in a strong greenhouse effect that raises the surface temperature approximately 400°C above what it would be otherwise, causing temperatures at the surface to reach 500°C. This makes Venus's surface hotter than Mercury's, despite being nearly twice as distant from the Sun and only receiving 75% the solar irradiance (2660 W/m2). Due to the thermal inertia and convection of its dense atmosphere, the temperature does not vary significantly between the night and day sides of Venus despite its extremely slow rotation (less than one rotation per Venusian year). Winds in the upper atmosphere circle the planet in only 4 days, helping to distribute the heat.
There are strong 350-kilometer-per-hour winds at the cloud tops but winds at the surface are very slow, no more than a few kilometers per hour. However, due to the high density of the atmosphere at Venus's surface, even such slow winds exert a significant amount of force against obstructions. The clouds are composed of sulfur dioxide and sulphuric acid droplets and cover the planet completely, obscuring any surface details. The temperature at the tops of these clouds is approximately -45°C. The official mean surface temperature of Venus, as given by NASA, is 464°C. The minimal value of the temperature, listed in the table, refers to cloud tops - on surface the temperature is never below 400°C.
Surface features
Venus has slow retrograde rotation, meaning it rotates from east to west instead of west to east as all other known planets in the solar system do. It is not known for sure why Venus is different in this manner, although it may be the result of a collision with a very large asteroid at some time in the distant past. In addition to this unusual retrograde rotation, the periods of Venus's rotation and of its orbit are synchronized in such a way that it always presents the same face toward Earth when the two planets are at their closest approach (5.001 Venusian days between each inferior conjunction). This may be the result of resonance, with tidal forces affecting Venus's rotation whenever the planets get close enough together, or it may simply be a coincidence.
Venus has two major continent-like highlands on its surface, rising over vast plains. The northern highland is named Ishtar Terra and has Venus's highest mountains, named the Maxwell Montes after James Clerk Maxwell, which surround the plateau Lakshmi Planum. Ishtar Terra is about the size of Australia. In the southern hemisphere is the larger Aphrodite Terra, about the size of South America. Between these highlands are a number of broad depressions, including Atalanta Planitia, Guinevere Planitia, and Lavinia Planitia. With only the exception of Maxwell Montes, all surface features on Venus are named after real or mythological females. Due to Venus's thick atmosphere, which causes meteors to decelerate as they fall toward the surface, no impact crater smaller than about 3.2 km in diameter can form.
Nearly 90% of Venus's surface appears to consist of recently-solidified basalt lava, with very few meteor craters. This suggests that Venus underwent a major resurfacing event recently. The interior of Venus is probably very similar to that of Earth: an iron core about 3000 km in radius, with a molten rocky mantle making up the majority of the planet. Recent results from the Magellan gravity data indicate that Venus's crust is stronger and thicker than had previously been assumed. It is theorized that Venus does not have mobile plate tectonics like Earth does, but instead undergoes massive volcanic upwellings at regular intervals that inundate its surface with fresh lava; the oldest features present on Venus seem to be only around 800 million years old, with most of the terrain being considerably younger (though still not less than several hundred million years for the most part). Recent findings suggest that Venus is still volcanically active in isolated geological hot spots.
Venus has no magnetic field, possibly due to its slow rotation being insufficient to drive an internal dynamo of liquid iron. As a result, the solar wind impacts directly on Venus's upper atmosphere. It is thought that Venus originally had as much water as Earth, but that under the Sun's assault water vapor in the upper atmosphere was split into hydrogen and oxygen, with the hydrogen escaping into space due to its low molecular mass; the ratio of hydrogen to deuterium (a heavier isotope of hydrogen which doesn't escape as quickly) in Venus's atmosphere seems to support this theory.
Venus was once thought to possess a moon, named Neith after the mysterious goddess Sais (whose veil no mortal raised), first observed by Giovanni Domenico Cassini in 1672. Sporadic sightings of Neith by astronomers continued until 1892, but these sightings have since been discredited (they were mostly faint stars that happened to be in the right place at the right time) and Venus is now known to be moonless.
Exploration of Venus
Historical observations
Venus is the most prominent astronomical feature in the morning and evening sky on Earth, and has been known of since before recorded history. One of the oldest surviving astronomical documents, from the Babylonian library of Ashurbanipal around 1600 BC, is a 21-year record of the appearances of Venus (which the early Babylonians called Nindaranna). The Assyrians called Venus Dil-bat or Dil-i-pat, in ancient Egypt it was the special star of the mother-god Ishtar, and the Chinese knew it as Jin xing. Venus was the most important celestial body observed by the Maya, who called it Chak ek, "the Great Star", and considered it a representation of Quetzalcoatl; they apparently did not worship any of the other planets. (See also Maya calendar.)
Early Greeks thought that the evening and morning appearances of Venus represented two different objects, calling it Hesperus when it appeared in the western evening sky and Phosphorus when it appeared in the eastern morning sky. They soon came to recognize that both objects represented the same planet, however; Pythagoras is given credit for this realization. In the 4th century BC, Heraclides Ponticus proposed that both Venus and Mercury orbited the Sun rather than Earth. The name Venus comes from the Roman goddess of love and beauty.
Because its orbit takes it between the Earth and the Sun, Venus as seen from Earth exhibits visible phases in much the same manner as the Earth's Moon. Galileo Galilei was the first to observe the phases of Venus in December 1610, an observation which supported Copernicus's then-contentious heliocentric description of the solar system. He also noted changes in the size of Venus's visible diameter when it was in different phases, suggesting that it was farther from Earth when it was full and nearer when it was a crescent. This also strongly supported the heliocentric model.
Transits of Venus, when the planet crosses directly between the Earth and the Sun' visible disc, are important astronomical events. The first such transit was observed on December 4, 1639 by Jeremiah Horrocks and William Crabtree. A transit in 1761 observed by Mikhail Lomonosov provided the first evidence that Venus had an atmosphere, and the 19th century observations of parallax during its transits allowed the distance between the Earth and Sun to be accurately calculated for the first time. The previous set of transits of Venus occurred within the interval of 1874 - 1882, and the next set of transits will occur in the period of 2004 - 2012.
In the 19th century, many observers stated that Venus had a period of rotation of roughly 24 hours. Itallian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli was the first to predict a significantly slower rotation, proposing that Venus was tidally locked with the Sun (as he had also proposed for Mercury). While not actually true for either body, this was still a reasonably accurate estimate. The near-resonance between its rotation and its closest approach to Earth helped to create this impression, as Venus always seemed to be facing the same direction when it was in the best location for observations to be made. The rotation rate of Venus was finally determined with confidence in 1961, using the Goldstone Radio Telescope in California. The fact that it was retrograde was not confirmed until 1964, however.
Venus-observation spacecraft
On March 1, 1966 the Venera 3 Soviet space probe crashed on Venus's becoming the first spacecraft to land on the planet's surface.
The first successful Venus probe was the American Mariner 2 probe, which flew past Venus in 1962. It established that Venus has no magnetic field and confirmed the planet's rotation rate.
The Soviet Union sent a number of atmospheric probes and landers, with Venera 9 and 10 each returning a single black-and-white photograph of Venus's surface in 1975 and Venera 13 and 14 returning a number of colour photographs from Venus's surface in 1982. In 1985 the Soviet Vega 1 and 2 probes each deployed a sensor-laden balloon in Venus's atmosphere in addition to placing landers on the surface. No lander survived for more than about two hours before failing under Venus's intense surface heat and pressure.
On August 10, 1990, the US Magellan probe arrived at the planet and started a mission of detailed radar mapping. 98% of the surface was mapped with a resolution of approximately 100m before the craft was deliberately deorbited on October 11, 1994.
Miscellaneous Information
Venus is also the location of several Starfleet Academy training facilities and terraforming stations, in the fictional Star Trek universe.
Color image taken from the surface of Venus by the Soviet Venera 13 lander. Larger image
See also: Venus (mythology), Lists of mountains on Venus
External links
The Solar SystemSun - Mercury - Venus - Earth - Mars - Asteroids - Jupiter - Saturn - Uranus - Neptune - Pluto - Comets - Kuiper belt - Oort cloud
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Venus (planet)."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Venus Williams (born June 20, 1980) is a tennis champion who was born in Lansing, Michigan. She is the daughter of Richard and Oracene Williams and the sister of another tennis champion, Serena Williams.
When the Williams sisters (who are five in total) were young, they were moved to Compton, California. There, they sometimes had to dodge bullets while practicing tennis at local public courts. Their father Richard used to take all five of his daughters to the courts in hopes that someday at least one of them would reach sporting glory and move them into a better place.
Venus as a young girl became one of California's top young tennis players, and she and her sister Serena shared the top seed as California's best young players for a long time.
Venus turned professional in the 1990s and went on to have a very lucrative tennis career. She has garnered many important championships, including a Gold medal at the Sydney Summer Olympics in 2000, the Fed Cup, the 1999 French Open doubles (with sister Serena as her partner), the Oklahoma City Tennis championship, the Italian Open, the Hamburg Open, the Wimbledon championship, and the US Open.
When Venus and Serena won the 1999 French Open doubles title, they became the first pair of sisters to win a doubles title in the 20th century.
In 2003, Williams played at the 2003 Wimbledon finals despite suffering stomach cramps. She lost to her sister Serena, 6-4, 4-6, 2-6.
Williams' older sister, Yetunde Price, was killed by gunshots in the Compton area as she and a male driver passed by inside a car, on the morning of September 14, 2003.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Venus Williams."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Venus is a town located in Texas. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 910.Geography
Venus is located at 32°25'46" North, 97°6'25" West (32.429383, -97.107022)1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 5.9 km² (2.3 mi²). None of the area is covered with water.Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there are 910 people, 332 households, and 246 families residing in the town. The population density is 154.1/km² (398.6/mi²). There are 344 housing units at an average density of 58.3/km² (150.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 84.84% White, 1.54% African American, 0.44% Native American, 5.82% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 4.51% from other races, and 2.86% from two or more races. 13.19% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 332 households out of which 34.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.1% are married couples living together, 10.2% have a female householder with no husband present, and 25.9% are non-families. 23.2% of all households are made up of individuals and 11.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.74 and the average family size is 3.21. In the town the population is spread out with 30.0% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there are 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 90.1 males. The median income for a household in the town is $37,917, and the median income for a family is $48,906. Males have a median income of $31,731 versus $24,375 for females. The per capita income for the town is $17,213. 10.8% of the population and 6.7% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 12.4% are under the age of 18 and 29.6% are 65 or older.Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Venus, Texas."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
VENUS | English | Vulcain Experimental Nuclear Studies at Mol | Nuclear Energy & Physics |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonym: VenusSynonym: genus Venus (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Beauty | Venus, Aphrodite, Hebe, the Graces, Peri, Houri, Cupid, Apollo, Hyperion, Adonis, Antionous, Narcissus. |
Love | Cupid, Venus; myrtle; true lover's knot; love token, love suit, love affair, love tale, love story; the, old story, plighted love; courtship; amourette; free love. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Another Venus. (Citizen Kane; writing credit: Herman J. Mankiewicz ; Orson Welles) He's gonna be a fry cook on Venus! (Ferris Bueller's Day Off; writing credit: John Hughes) You can't travel in space, you can't go out into space, you know, without, like, you know, uh, with fractions - what are you going to land on - one-quarter, three-eighths? What are you going to do when you go from here to Venus or something (Apocalypse Now; writing credit: John Milius ; Francis Ford Coppola) The love that tells us to abandon our lives and plans, all for one brief touch of Venus. So often we fail at that kind of love (Far from Heaven; writing credit: Todd Haynes) Venus lovechain encircle (Sailor Moon; writing credit: Todd Swift) | |
Lyrics | And Venus was her name (Venus; performing artist: Bananarama) Milo Venus was a beautiful lass (Brown Eyed Handsome Man; performing artist: Chuck Berry) You may be from Venus but I'm definitely not from Mars (You're An Ocean; performing artist: Fastball; writing credit: Tony Scalzo) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Venus in Bont (1974) Birth of Venus (1970) The Venus Trap (1970) Venus (1969) Frau Venus und ihr Teufel (1967) | |
Song Titles | VENUS IN BLUE JEANS (performing artist: Jimmy Clanton ) Queen of Venus (performing artist: The New Duncan Imperials) Venus (performing artist: Shocking Blue) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | "Orrery" (movie) by Marijke van Gans. Watch Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars orbit the Sun, while the Moon orbits Earth. From inside DPGraph, click on Edit for more information. |  | Orbital Sunrise with Venus and Mars. Credit: NASA. |
 | Artist's concept of a Pioneer Venus probe entering Venus' atmosphere. Credit: NASA. |  | Ultraviolet image of Venus' clouds as seen by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter (Feb. 26, 1979). Credit: NASA. |
 | Five global views of Venus by Magellan. Credit: NASA. |  | Topographic Map of Venus from Magellan (Mercator Projection). Credit: NASA. |
 | Microwave Emissivity Map of Venus from Magellan (Mercator Projection). Credit: NASA. |  | Gravity Maps of Venus from Magellan (Mercator Projection). Credit: NASA. |
 | Surface photographs from the Soviet Venera 14 spacecraft. TheVenera 14 lander became the second Venus surface probe to transmit color imagesafter setting down on 5 May 1982. Credit: NASA. |  | Individual frames for each of the six planets imaged, Venus, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Credit: NASA. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |
| "Venus Flytraps1" by Ariel C. Commentary: "Venus Flytraps1." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Author | Quotation |
Jean Racine | It's no longer a warmth hidden in my veins: it's Venus entire and whole fastening on her prey. |
Lucretius | Mother of Aeneas and his race, darling of men and gods, nurturing Venus. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | This chaste restraint is the shade which separates Psyche from Venus. |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | I told you that one day I wrote my name in pencil on the backside of the Venus of Praxiteles in the Museum |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | Two groups thus dominate the market, and both Venus and Nuwa meet regulatory standards. (references) | |
The largest wholesalers are Kwartet S.C., Giewont, Venus, Mikoma, Blekitna s.c., and Hanlan. (references) | ||
Microsoft’s set-top box, Venus, is being produced by Legend, Haier, Stone, TCL, Beijing Jin Yuxing, and Shanghai Guangdian (SVA). (references) | ||
Civil Liberties | Cameroon | Two others are affiliated with private nonaccredited academic institutions: NDI Samba University's "Radio Lumiere" and the Siantou University's "Radio Siantou." The fifth station is "Radio Venus," which plays only music. (references) |
Trade | Argentina | Some of the users are Sharp, Maxon, Acropolis, Canon, TDK, JVC, Audinac, Pioneer, Rates, Audio Logic, Zenith, Daewo, Talent, Goldstar, Panashiba, Nashiba, Le Roy, Carandache, Baume & Mercier, Corum, Tag Heuer, Movado, Caterpillar, Valvoline, Komatsu, Cummins, Coleman, John Deere, Home, Litte, Snapper, Asia, Kia, Isuzu, Mazda, Nissan, Case, SKF, Fag Steyr, Armstrong, Stanetex Tile, Multicolor Prem, Abco Haldex, Sigma Paximat, York, Autobombas Ford, GM, American Lafrance, Venus Carpet, Kalpakian Floget, Blue Diamond, Stronger, Yale, Skoda, Cessna, Bayer, Nike, Topper, Avia, Jovi, Canson, Stabilo, La Serenisima, Sancor, Ceres, Goodyear, Eastman, Digitar, Tecno Steel, Dallas, Cristaleria Bohemia, Heidelberg, Polar, Hempel, Crosley, Waltek, Exenel, Printex, Darling, Wega, R.N., Tecno 1, Medtronic, Akroplast, BRD, Lostra 2100 Fume, Care Quilt, Rae Flex, Zwiling, Nippon, Kaijo, Ki, Trinity, Asme, Dupont, Siderar, Sanitron, Band Ai, Alcoa, Samsonite, Daihatsu, Rhone Poulenc, Asics, Etam, Grimoldi, Boating Shoes, Sthil, Subaru, Daewoo, Cadbury de Argentina, Cafes La Virginia, Construcciones Metalurgicas Zanello, Electrolux Argentina, Ilko Argentina, Impsat, Ledesma Mattel Argentina, Multicolor Argentina, Papelera Tucuman, Pecom NEC, Philco Ushuaia, Phillips Argentina, Ralston Purina Argentina, Spazio Casa Simmons de Argentina. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | ICHOR, n. A fluid that serves the gods and goddesses in place of blood. Fair Venus, speared by Diomed, Restrained the raging chief and said: "Behold, rash mortal, whom you've bled -- Your soul's stained white with ichorshed!" Mary Doke |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Venus" is generally used as a noun (proper) -- approximately 95.36% of the time. "Venus" is used about 453 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (proper) | 95.36% | 432 | 13,298 |
| Noun (singular) | 4.19% | 19 | 80,337 |
| Noun (plural) | 0.44% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 453 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "Venus" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Venus | First name Female | 6,000 | 1,232 |
| Venus | Last name | 170 | 48,818 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
| Country | Name |
| USA | Venus Exploration, Inc. |
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
1. Venus, FL 2. Venus, PA 3. Venus, TX (town, FIPS 75236) |
Expressions using "Venus": Crocus of Venus ♦ genus Venus ♦ mount of venus ♦ sacred to venus ♦ salt of Venus ♦ Venus flytrap ♦ Venus maidenhair ♦ Venus mercenaria ♦ Venus Mortoni ♦ venus shell. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "Venus": Venus-adonis, Venus-earth, venus-like. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
venus | 4,714 | venus clothing | 88 |
venus swim wear | 2,078 | free razor venus | 86 |
venus williams | 1,122 | gillette venus | 75 |
venus fly trap | 792 | goddess venus | 74 |
planet venus | 458 | edge venus | 73 |
earth venus | 334 | venus bathing suit | 71 |
sailor venus | 288 | venus williams nude | 64 |
venus swimsuit | 221 | catalog venus | 62 |
venus serena williams | 194 | venus 2000 | 61 |
venus razor | 188 | venus swim | 61 |
venus de milo | 152 | venus penis | 60 |
man are from mars woman are from venus | 151 | venus swimware | 57 |
the birth of venus | 145 | picture sailor venus | 57 |
mons venus | 139 | venus of willendorf | 54 |
venus butterfly | 129 | venus magazine | 54 |
picture of venus | 109 | land of venus | 52 |
mars venus | 101 | venus envy | 51 |
venus bridal | 97 | canal venus | 47 |
brenda venus | 95 | venus book club | 47 |
venus hum | 88 | venus swimwear.com | 45 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "Venus"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | Venus (Evening, Evening Star), Aandster (Evening, Evening Star). (various references) | |
Albanian | Venus, Afërditë (Aphrodite). (various references) | |
Arabic | الزهرة فل, إلاهة الحب والجمال عند الرومان. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | Плътска Желание, Плътска Любов, Красавица (Belle), Венера. (various references) | |
Chinese | 媊 (charm, flatter, planet Venus in the morning). (various references) | |
Czech | Venuše. (various references) | |
Danish | stribet venusmusling (striped venus), amerikansk venusmusling (hardshell clam, wart venus, wartel Venus shell). (various references) | |
Dutch | Venus (Evening Star). (various references) | |
Esperanto | Venuso (Cytherea). (various references) | |
Farsi | ستاره زهره , زن زیبا (Belle), الهه عشق وزیباءی . (various references) | |
Finnish | raitavenussimpukka (striped venus). (various references) | |
French | Vénus (venus shell). (various references) | |
German | Venus (Evening Star). (various references) | |
Greek | Αφροδίτη (Aphrodite, Lucifer). (various references) | |
Hebrew | ֵנוס, ֻוכבת. (various references) | |
Hungarian | Vénusz (Evening Star, lucifer). (various references) | |
Italian | Venere (Evening, Evening Star). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 暁星 (morning star, rarity). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ぎょうせい (administration, morning star, rarity), ビーナス , ヴィーナス , きんせい (balance, balanceof power, ban, embargo, humbly made, made of gold, prohibition, recent times, symmetry, uniformity), あいのかみ (Amor, Eros, god of love), よいのみょうじょう (evening star), みょうじょう (Lucifer, morning star, star). (various references) | |
Manx | Kied Reiltagh ny h-oie, Heney, Baytnag, Badlag. (various references) | |
Papiamen | Venus (Evening Star). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | enusvay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | vênus (love, morning star). (various references) | |
Russian | тж. красавица, венера, Венера (morning star). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | venera. (various references) | |
Spanish | Venus. (various references) | |
Swedish | Venus. (various references) | |
Turkish | Venüs (evening star, Lucifer, vesper), Zühre, Sabah Yıldızı (Lucifer, morning star), Çobanyıldızı. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | Венера. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | thần ái tình người đàn bà rất đẹp nhục dục. (various references) | |
Welsh | Gwener. (various references) | |
Yucatec | Xnuk Ek' (Evening Star). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | Cytherea, venere, veneris, Venus. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words ending with "Venus": parvenus. (additional references) | |
| |
"Venus" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Avienus, Eunus, Vanua, vanus, venas, Venos, Venosa, ventus, venu, venuw, vinus, Vnup, Vonnas. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| Words rhyming with "Venus" (pronounced 'Ve"nus'): Agnus, Alumnus, Anthrenus, Anus, Bonus, Cincinnus, Clonus, Conus, Cothurnus, Cygnus, Echinus, genus, Janus, Marbrinus, Onus, Pandanus, Pannus, Pignus, Pinus, subgenus, Tabanus, tonus, Turnus, Uncinus, Varanus. (additional references) |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: nevus. | |
| Words within the letters "e-n-s-u-v" | |
-2 letters: ens, nus, sen, sue, sun, uns, use. | |
-3 letters: en, es, ne, nu, un, us. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-n-s-u-v" | |
+1 letter: naevus, venous, venues. | |
+2 letters: avenues, envious, nervous, niveous, subvene, unlives, unsaved, unveils, vendues, venules. | |
+3 letters: convulse, duvetyns, evonymus, evulsion, incurves, infusive, juvenals, levulins, nervules, nervures, overruns, parvenus, ravenous, revenues, runovers, souvenir, subvened, subvenes, uncovers, ungloves, universe, unlevels, unnerves, unravels, unreeves, unserved, unshaved, unshaven, unsolved, unversed, unvoices, unweaves, vaunters, veinules, vendeuse, venomous, venously, ventures, venturis, venulose, venulous, vesuvian. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Familiar 10. Quotations: Fiction 11. Quotations: Non-fiction 12. Usage Frequency | 13. Names: Frequency 14. Names: Company Usage 15. Cities 16. Expressions | 17. Expressions: Internet 18. Translations: Modern 19. Translations: Ancient 20. Abbreviations | 21. Acronyms 22. Derivations 23. Rhymes 24. Anagrams | 25. Bibliography |
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