The new face of Venus

The Magellan data on the Venus landscape which revealed volcanoes, shining mountains, relaxing plateaus, and craters on the surface of about 500 C, with an atmospheric pressure 90 times that of earth, are discussed. Venus is considered to be a planet that is both incredibly similar and dissimilar to earth. Venus might not exhibit plate tectonism but it might be dominated by catastrophes. The greenhouse around Venus has operated for at least the last 500 million years. The Magellan data revealed channels extending for thousands of kilometers, beautiful outflows surrounding impact craters, and odd volcanic constructs like the steep-sided domes.