VENUS 



0054 



VENUS 



VENUS, the most brilliant and conspicuous 

 of all the planets, is second in distance from the 

 sun, and was named for Venus, the mytholog- 

 ical goddess of beauty and love. Among the 

 Greeks this planet had two names, Phosphorus, 

 or Lucifer, the Light Bearer, as morning star, 

 and Hesperus, as the evening star. In size, 

 surface and density Venus is very similar to 

 the earth. It is at an average distance of 

 67,200,000 miles from the sun, and its orbit 

 brings it at times nearer to the earth than any 

 other heavenly body except the moon and oc- 

 casionally a comet. Its orbit lies between Mer- 

 cury and the Earth, and it completes its revo- 

 lution round the sun in 225 days. Its diameter 

 is 7,700 miles, its surface more than nine-tenths 

 that of the earth, and its density very little 

 less than the earth's density. The albedo, or 

 reflecting power of Venus is very great, being 

 three times that of the moon and four times 

 that of Mercury; the planet reflects more than 

 half the light which falls upon it. The disk of 

 Venus appears brightest at the edges, in this 

 respect being like the moon. 



Atmosphere of Venus. That Venus has an 

 atmosphere is clearly established, and it is 

 thought to be considerably more dense than 

 the atmosphere surrounding the earth. The 

 presence of this atmosphere renders observa- 



ORBIT OF VENUS 

 Also of the three other "inner" planets. 



tion difficult, as the actual surface of the planet 

 can barely be seen. The presence of atmos- 

 phere is indicated in the transit of Venus by 

 rings of light, due to the reflection and scatter- 

 ing of collected sunlight by its atmosphere. 

 The presence of a great number of clouds is 



quite generally accepted, as rocks or soils could 

 not have such high reflecting power. Like the 

 moon, Venus presents different phases, varying 

 from the new moon crescent to the full circle 

 and then decreasing, as in the case of the moon. 



Transit of Venus. At certain periods the or- 

 bit of Venus brings the planet directly between 

 the earth and the sun, across whose disk it 

 appears to travel. To the naked eye it then 

 appears merely as a black spot. The track of 

 the transit is seldom across the center of the 

 sun's disk, but when that does happen it occu- 

 pies about eight hours, being, of course, short- 

 ened when the transit occurs nearer the edge 

 of the' sun's disk. The transits of Venus are 

 studied by astronomers with the greatest inter- 

 est, and expeditions to points where they may 

 be advantageously observed are fitted out by 

 most of the great educational institutions. The 

 dates of the transits can be calculated with 

 accuracy years beforehand; transits of Venus 

 were observed in 1631, 1639, 1761, 1874, 1882; 

 others are foretold for June 8, 2004, and June 6, 

 2012. F.ST.A. 



VE'NUS, the Roman name for the goddess 

 of love and beauty whom the Greeks called 

 Aphrodite. Some legends make her the daugh- 

 ter of Jupiter, but most of them declare that 

 she was sprung from the foam of the sea near 

 the island of Cythera, whence she proceeded to 

 Cyprus, the nymphs Love and Desire attending 

 her. When she appeared on Olympus in all her 

 beauty, a golden wreath on her head and her 

 silky ringlets floating about her breast, she ex- 

 cited the admiration of all the gods, who united 

 to do her honor. They all proposed marriage 

 to her, but she scornfully rejected them and 

 provoked their enmity to such an extent that 

 they picked out for her husband the lame and 

 deformed Vulcan. Venus, though at first in- 

 terested in Vulcan's strange home and glowing 

 forges, was not long faithful to such a husband, 

 but deserted him and fell in love with IVIars, 

 Adonis and Anchises in succession. She was a 

 great friend of lovers, and many a time inter- 

 fered to remove obstacles that separated them. 

 Sometimes she even loaned to favored mortals 

 her magic girdle, which had the power of inspir- 

 ing love for the wearer, nor was she careful to 

 bestow her favors justly. 



The ancient artists, especially Praxiteles and 

 Apelles, made her the ideal of womanly beauty. 

 She is usually nude, or but slightly clad, and is 

 often shown rising from the sea foam and shak- 

 ing the water from her hair. The Venus de 

 Milo is the most famous representation. 



