Home » Archimedes archive » Zipped Apps » Orrery » !Solar/Describe/Venus
!Solar/Describe/Venus
This website contains an archive of files for the Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Acorn Archimedes, Commodore 16 and Commodore 64 computers, which Dominic Ford has rescued from his private collection of floppy disks and cassettes.
Some of these files were originally commercial releases in the 1980s and 1990s, but they are now widely available online. I assume that copyright over them is no longer being asserted. If you own the copyright and would like files to be removed, please contact me.
| Tape/disk: | Home » Archimedes archive » Zipped Apps » Orrery |
| Filename: | !Solar/Describe/Venus |
| Read OK: | ✔ |
| File size: | 04CD bytes |
| Load address: | 0000 |
| Exec address: | 0000 |
File contents
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. Its orbit is said to be "inferior" as it lies between the Sun and the Earth, and as a consequence, it always appears in the sky comparatively near to the Sun, being visible a little before sunrise or a little after sunset. The planets atmosphere is composed mainly of carbon dioxide, (CO2) amounting to 97% of the total mass. As a result of the carbon dioxide's greenhouse effect, the surface temperature is as high as 490�C, slightly hotter than Mercury! The planet rotates once every 243 Earth days, while the upper clouds have been observed to rotate once every four days indicating winds of 100m per second. These clouds extend to 70Km above the planets surface, and obscure all of the surface details from telescopes on Earth. They are largely composed of sulphuric acid (H2SO4), and make conditions at the surface highly corrosive. The Russians launched a number of Venera series probes to send back information from Venus, Venera 1 being launched in 1961 however most of the early probes failed for various reasons, not in the least because of the hostile conditions found on the planets surface. It was'nt until 1975 that the first pictures were returned by Veneras 9 and 10.
00000000 56 65 6e 75 73 20 69 73 20 74 68 65 20 73 65 63 |Venus is the sec| 00000010 6f 6e 64 20 70 6c 61 6e 65 74 20 66 72 6f 6d 20 |ond planet from | 00000020 74 68 65 20 53 75 6e 2e 20 49 74 73 20 6f 72 62 |the Sun. Its orb| 00000030 69 74 20 69 73 20 73 61 69 64 0a 74 6f 20 62 65 |it is said.to be| 00000040 20 22 69 6e 66 65 72 69 6f 72 22 20 61 73 20 69 | "inferior" as i| 00000050 74 20 6c 69 65 73 20 62 65 74 77 65 65 6e 20 74 |t lies between t| 00000060 68 65 20 53 75 6e 20 61 6e 64 20 74 68 65 20 45 |he Sun and the E| 00000070 61 72 74 68 2c 20 61 6e 64 0a 61 73 20 61 20 63 |arth, and.as a c| 00000080 6f 6e 73 65 71 75 65 6e 63 65 2c 20 69 74 20 61 |onsequence, it a| 00000090 6c 77 61 79 73 20 61 70 70 65 61 72 73 20 69 6e |lways appears in| 000000a0 20 74 68 65 20 73 6b 79 20 63 6f 6d 70 61 72 61 | the sky compara| 000000b0 74 69 76 65 6c 79 0a 6e 65 61 72 20 74 6f 20 74 |tively.near to t| 000000c0 68 65 20 53 75 6e 2c 20 62 65 69 6e 67 20 76 69 |he Sun, being vi| 000000d0 73 69 62 6c 65 20 61 20 6c 69 74 74 6c 65 20 62 |sible a little b| 000000e0 65 66 6f 72 65 20 73 75 6e 72 69 73 65 20 6f 72 |efore sunrise or| 000000f0 20 61 0a 6c 69 74 74 6c 65 20 61 66 74 65 72 20 | a.little after | 00000100 73 75 6e 73 65 74 2e 20 0a 0a 54 68 65 20 70 6c |sunset. ..The pl| 00000110 61 6e 65 74 73 20 61 74 6d 6f 73 70 68 65 72 65 |anets atmosphere| 00000120 20 69 73 20 63 6f 6d 70 6f 73 65 64 20 6d 61 69 | is composed mai| 00000130 6e 6c 79 20 6f 66 20 63 61 72 62 6f 6e 20 64 69 |nly of carbon di| 00000140 6f 78 69 64 65 2c 0a 28 43 4f 32 29 20 61 6d 6f |oxide,.(CO2) amo| 00000150 75 6e 74 69 6e 67 20 74 6f 20 39 37 25 20 6f 66 |unting to 97% of| 00000160 20 74 68 65 20 74 6f 74 61 6c 20 6d 61 73 73 2e | the total mass.| 00000170 20 41 73 20 61 20 72 65 73 75 6c 74 20 6f 66 20 | As a result of | 00000180 74 68 65 0a 63 61 72 62 6f 6e 20 64 69 6f 78 69 |the.carbon dioxi| 00000190 64 65 27 73 20 67 72 65 65 6e 68 6f 75 73 65 20 |de's greenhouse | 000001a0 65 66 66 65 63 74 2c 20 74 68 65 20 73 75 72 66 |effect, the surf| 000001b0 61 63 65 20 74 65 6d 70 65 72 61 74 75 72 65 20 |ace temperature | 000001c0 69 73 0a 61 73 20 68 69 67 68 20 61 73 20 34 39 |is.as high as 49| 000001d0 30 b0 43 2c 20 73 6c 69 67 68 74 6c 79 20 68 6f |0.C, slightly ho| 000001e0 74 74 65 72 20 74 68 61 6e 20 4d 65 72 63 75 72 |tter than Mercur| 000001f0 79 21 0a 54 68 65 20 70 6c 61 6e 65 74 20 72 6f |y!.The planet ro| 00000200 74 61 74 65 73 20 6f 6e 63 65 20 65 76 65 72 79 |tates once every| 00000210 20 32 34 33 20 45 61 72 74 68 20 64 61 79 73 2c | 243 Earth days,| 00000220 20 77 68 69 6c 65 20 74 68 65 20 75 70 70 65 72 | while the upper| 00000230 0a 63 6c 6f 75 64 73 20 68 61 76 65 20 62 65 65 |.clouds have bee| 00000240 6e 20 6f 62 73 65 72 76 65 64 20 74 6f 20 72 6f |n observed to ro| 00000250 74 61 74 65 20 6f 6e 63 65 20 65 76 65 72 79 20 |tate once every | 00000260 66 6f 75 72 20 64 61 79 73 0a 69 6e 64 69 63 61 |four days.indica| 00000270 74 69 6e 67 20 77 69 6e 64 73 20 6f 66 20 31 30 |ting winds of 10| 00000280 30 6d 20 70 65 72 20 73 65 63 6f 6e 64 2e 20 54 |0m per second. T| 00000290 68 65 73 65 20 63 6c 6f 75 64 73 20 65 78 74 65 |hese clouds exte| 000002a0 6e 64 20 74 6f 0a 37 30 4b 6d 20 61 62 6f 76 65 |nd to.70Km above| 000002b0 20 74 68 65 20 70 6c 61 6e 65 74 73 20 73 75 72 | the planets sur| 000002c0 66 61 63 65 2c 20 61 6e 64 20 6f 62 73 63 75 72 |face, and obscur| 000002d0 65 20 61 6c 6c 20 6f 66 20 74 68 65 20 73 75 72 |e all of the sur| 000002e0 66 61 63 65 0a 64 65 74 61 69 6c 73 20 66 72 6f |face.details fro| 000002f0 6d 20 74 65 6c 65 73 63 6f 70 65 73 20 6f 6e 20 |m telescopes on | 00000300 45 61 72 74 68 2e 20 54 68 65 79 20 61 72 65 20 |Earth. They are | 00000310 6c 61 72 67 65 6c 79 20 63 6f 6d 70 6f 73 65 64 |largely composed| 00000320 20 6f 66 0a 73 75 6c 70 68 75 72 69 63 20 61 63 | of.sulphuric ac| 00000330 69 64 20 28 48 32 53 4f 34 29 2c 20 61 6e 64 20 |id (H2SO4), and | 00000340 6d 61 6b 65 20 63 6f 6e 64 69 74 69 6f 6e 73 20 |make conditions | 00000350 61 74 20 74 68 65 20 73 75 72 66 61 63 65 0a 68 |at the surface.h| 00000360 69 67 68 6c 79 20 63 6f 72 72 6f 73 69 76 65 2e |ighly corrosive.| 00000370 0a 0a 54 68 65 20 52 75 73 73 69 61 6e 73 20 6c |..The Russians l| 00000380 61 75 6e 63 68 65 64 20 61 20 6e 75 6d 62 65 72 |aunched a number| 00000390 20 6f 66 20 56 65 6e 65 72 61 20 73 65 72 69 65 | of Venera serie| 000003a0 73 20 70 72 6f 62 65 73 20 74 6f 20 73 65 6e 64 |s probes to send| 000003b0 0a 62 61 63 6b 20 69 6e 66 6f 72 6d 61 74 69 6f |.back informatio| 000003c0 6e 20 66 72 6f 6d 20 56 65 6e 75 73 2c 20 56 65 |n from Venus, Ve| 000003d0 6e 65 72 61 20 31 20 62 65 69 6e 67 20 6c 61 75 |nera 1 being lau| 000003e0 6e 63 68 65 64 20 69 6e 20 31 39 36 31 0a 68 6f |nched in 1961.ho| 000003f0 77 65 76 65 72 20 6d 6f 73 74 20 6f 66 20 74 68 |wever most of th| 00000400 65 20 65 61 72 6c 79 20 70 72 6f 62 65 73 20 66 |e early probes f| 00000410 61 69 6c 65 64 20 66 6f 72 20 76 61 72 69 6f 75 |ailed for variou| 00000420 73 20 72 65 61 73 6f 6e 73 2c 0a 6e 6f 74 20 69 |s reasons,.not i| 00000430 6e 20 74 68 65 20 6c 65 61 73 74 20 62 65 63 61 |n the least beca| 00000440 75 73 65 20 6f 66 20 74 68 65 20 68 6f 73 74 69 |use of the hosti| 00000450 6c 65 20 63 6f 6e 64 69 74 69 6f 6e 73 20 66 6f |le conditions fo| 00000460 75 6e 64 20 6f 6e 0a 74 68 65 20 70 6c 61 6e 65 |und on.the plane| 00000470 74 73 20 73 75 72 66 61 63 65 2e 20 49 74 20 77 |ts surface. It w| 00000480 61 73 27 6e 74 20 75 6e 74 69 6c 20 31 39 37 35 |as'nt until 1975| 00000490 20 74 68 61 74 20 74 68 65 20 66 69 72 73 74 0a | that the first.| 000004a0 70 69 63 74 75 72 65 73 20 77 65 72 65 20 72 65 |pictures were re| 000004b0 74 75 72 6e 65 64 20 62 79 20 56 65 6e 65 72 61 |turned by Venera| 000004c0 73 20 39 20 61 6e 64 20 31 30 2e 0a 0a |s 9 and 10...| 000004cd
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