Atmosphere of Venus
The atmosphere of Venus is the layer of gases surrounding Venus. It is composed primarily of carbon dioxide and is much denser and hotter than that of Earth. The temperature at the surface is 740 K (467 °C, 872 °F), and the pressure is 93 bar (9.3 MPa), roughly the pressure found underwater on Earth. The Venusian atmosphere supports opaque clouds made of sulfuric acid, making optical Earth-based and orbital observation of the surface impossible. Information about the topography has been obtained exclusively by radar imaging. Aside from carbon dioxide, the other main component is nitrogen. Other chemical compounds are present only in trace amounts.
CubeSat UV Experiment
The Venusian upper cloud deck, situated at an altitude range 60-70 km, is formed of small droplets comprising a mix of ~80% sulfuric acid () and water. About half of the solar energy received by Venus is absorbed in the UV by a still
unknown absorber situated at the top of the cloud layer. Because of its vast absorbing power, knowing its nature is very important to understand the overall radiative and thermal balance of the planet and the atmospheric dynamics. Although NASA, Roscosmos, the European Space Agency, and Japan's JAXA have dispatched multiple missions to Venus, the nature of the cloud top absorber has not been established.