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The Question
(Submitted March 09, 1997)
Could Venus and Earth have, at one time, switched
orbits?
The Answer
No, it is not really a possibility that Venus and Earth have ever switched
orbits. There are some folks who have proposed outlandish ideas about Venus
actually being a part of Jupiter that was blown off somehow, wandered
around in the solar system for awhile (sometimes near Earth), and then
settled down into its present orbit. This is not supported by scientific
evidence, however.
Venus is sometimes regarded as Earth's sister planet. In some ways they are
very similar, e.g. they are roughly the same size, their densities and
chemical compositions are similar, they both have relatively young surfaces.
Because of these similarities, it was thought that below its dense clouds
Venus might be very Earth-like and might even have life. But, unfortunately,
more detailed study of Venus reveals that in many important ways it is radically
different from Earth. You can learn more about this at
http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/tnp/venus.html
Regards,
Laura Whitlock
for the Ask an Astrophysicist Team
Questions on this topic are no longer responded to by the "Ask an Astrophysicist" service. See http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/ask_an_astronomer.html
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