Venus is the second planet out from the sun, being not quite three-quarters as far from the sun, as Earth. The size and mass of Venus is not greatly different from Earth, but there the similarities end. It has a year of about 225 Earth days but its period of rotation is extremely slow taking almost 117 Earth days between sunrises – if one could be seen through the dense cloud cover.

Venus is also unique in having a retrograde rotation meaning that it spins in the opposite direction from the other planets. This is likely due to a massive collision at some time in the past. Venus was the Greek goddess of love but the planet named after her would be no place to spend your honeymoon. The pressure at the surface is 98 times Earth’s atmospheric pressure and is equal to that at a depth of 3,000 feet beneath the sea. Surface temperature is 900 F, hot enough to melt lead.

This results from the fact that Venus’ atmosphere is 96 percent carbon dioxide and the planet suffers from a runaway greenhouse effect. The atmosphere also contains sulfur and the planet has gentle rains of sulfuric acid. More than 20 spacecraft have studied Venus since 1962 with the Soviets landing two in 1982 that sent back pictures for a few seconds before being destroyed by the hostile conditions.

Focus on the Planets

Mercury is found very low on the east-northeast horizon at dawn. Look for the innermost planet nestled next to the thin crescent moon on the morning of July 19.

Venus is the first to rise of the four planets found this month on the east-northeast horizon at dawn. July 13 is an excellent time to spot all four early morning planets. Low on the horizon is Jupiter with Mercury to its immediate lower right. To the upper right is a triangle made up of Saturn, brilliant Venus, and reddish Aldebaran.

Mars continues its brilliant display in the south at sunset. The Red Planet is still the brightest point of light in the evening sky but will steadily diminish in both size and brightness as its distance from Earth increases by 8 million miles in July. Look for the nearly full moon directly to the left of Mars on July 3.

Jupiter rises about an hour and a half before sunrise and is easy to spot low in the east-northeast.

Saturn follows Venus into the pre-dawn sky and is located to the lower left of Venus.

Uranus lies among the stars of Capricornus where it is visited by the waning moon on July 9. Its distinctive greenish disk should be visible with a good set of binoculars.

Neptune is also situated in Capricornus where its bluish-tinged disk should lie in the vicinity of the moon during the evenings of July 7 and 8.

Pluto is located among the stars of Ophiuchus and above Mars.

July Events

1 Sunrise, 4:53 a.m.; sunset, 8:25 p.m.

2 Today, at 1 p.m. EDT, marks the midpoint of the year. The moon forms a triangle tonight with bright-orange Mars and, to the lower right, the star Antares.

4 The Earth is at aphelion today, or most distant point from the sun.

5 Full moon, 11:04 a.m. The full moon of July is called the Hay Moon or Thunder Moon.

13 Moon in last quarter, 2:47 p.m. Don’t forget the display of four planets, with Aldebaran thrown in for good measure in the

east-northeast pre-dawn sky.

19 The thin crescent moon is extremely close to Mercury in the morning sky.

20 New moon, 3:45 p.m. The sun enters Cancer on the ecliptic.

22 The sun enters the astrological sign of Leo but, astronomically, has only just entered Cancer.

27 Moon in first quarter, 6:09 a.m.

28 Delta Aquarid meteor shower peaks tonight. The Aquarids can yield up to 20 meteors per hour out of the south from Aquarius.

30 Look for the moon, Mars and Antares to form a curving line low in the south this evening.

31 Sunrise, 5:19 a.m.; sunset, 8:03 p.m.