Venus

Venus structure: (Very Large File, 26.1 MB)

Overall

We've created detailed layers representing Venus's core, mantle, crust, lower atmosphere, upper atmosphere, magnetosphere, and Hill sphere. We include informative descriptions for each component and appropriately scale them.

Core

The representation of Venus's core as composed primarily of iron and nickel is accurate, as is the radius fraction of 0.5 (roughly 3,000 km). Our description correctly notes the lack of a strong magnetic field and the speculation about Venus's core being solid, partially liquid, or lacking the internal convection that drives Earth's magnetic field.

Mantle

The mantle description accurately describes it as hot, dense silicate rock, like Earth's mantle, with heat generated from radioactive decay driving convection currents related to volcanism and tectonic activity. The radius fraction of 0.98 properly represents the mantle extending almost to the planet's surface.

Crust

Our crust representation is scientifically accurate, describing it as primarily basalt with a thickness of 10-30 km. The explanation correctly notes that Venus lacks Earth-like plate tectonics, instead having a single continuous plate with widespread volcanic activity leading to periodic global resurfacing events.

Atmosphere

The lower atmosphere description is accurate, noting the extreme density (90 times Earth's atmospheric pressure), composition (96.5% CO₂, 3.5% nitrogen), and the runaway greenhouse effect making Venus the hottest planet with surface temperatures around 464°C. The visualization properly includes the super-rotation phenomenon in the upper atmosphere.

The upper atmosphere description is comprehensive, covering the mesosphere, thermosphere, ionosphere, and exosphere accurately. The described extents are consistent with current understanding - mesosphere to 1.5-1.6% of Venus's radius, thermosphere to at least 3.3%, and ionosphere potentially reaching about 8% or more.

Magnetosphere

Our description of Venus's induced magnetosphere is accurate, correctly noting that unlike Earth's internally-generated field, Venus's magnetosphere forms through interaction between solar wind and the ionosphere. The detailed parameters for the bow shock (1.3-1.7 radii), magnetopause (1.05-1.1 radii), and magnetotail (extending to at least 45-60 radii) align with current understanding.

Hill Sphere

Our Hill sphere (gravitational influence) visualization uses a radius fraction of 166 Venus radii (approximately 1 million km), which is consistent with accepted values for Venus's Hill sphere.