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Despite its unpleasant surface conditions, Venus is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful worlds in the solar system when viewed from space. It’s huge clouds of sulphuric acid make the planet extremely reflective, so that it can even be seen from Earth as the Morning Star.

But what if these clouds disappeared? What would Venus look like then?

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  • $\begingroup$ Please clarify your specific problem or provide additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it's hard to tell exactly what you're asking. $\endgroup$
    – Community Bot
    Commented Apr 2, 2023 at 20:22
  • $\begingroup$ I can think of two interpretations for this question right now: what does Venus' surface look like underneath the clouds, or how would Venus (and its appearance) change if the atmosphere was so different that it didn't have the acid clouds in the first place $\endgroup$
    – Erin Anne
    Commented Apr 2, 2023 at 21:35
  • $\begingroup$ Already asked in Astro.SE: astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/12422/… ... astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/53138/… $\endgroup$
    – Nilay Ghosh
    Commented Apr 6, 2023 at 4:28

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What would Venus look like without acid clouds?

I guess this means visible light, and to my knowledge no color cameras have made it to the surface.

There is evidence of recent volcanic activity on Venus

so I think the surface will have various minerals of different hues just like some volcanic areas on Earth (I'm thinking Yellowstone National Park) but certainly there isn't enough information to say exactly what it would look like during the day.

However, at night Venus may or may not look dull red.

Currently the surface glows with faintly visible red light due to thermal radiation. With a major change in cloud cover, the surface temperature may drop a bit, so we can't say for sure how much it would glow.

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