On Venus, it snows metal and rains sulfuric acid.

 

On Venus, it snows metal and rains sulfuric acid.   

This is because Venus is a scorching planet choked with sulfuric acid, which causes the planet’s metals to become gas and then liquid in the atmosphere, before raining down to the ground after the freezing temperatures turn it into a solid.

As we now understand it, the snow on Venus’ surface is probably more similar to frost. On the lower Venusian plains, temperatures reach a searing 480°C (894°F). This is hot enough that reflective pyrite minerals on the planet’s surface are vaporized, entering the atmosphere as a kind of metallic mist, leaving only the dark volcanic rocks like basalt in the Venusian lowlands.

At higher altitudes, this mist condenses, forming shiny, metallic frost on the tops of the mountains. And Earth’s simmering sibling has plenty of high altitude terrain. Maxwell Montes, the tallest peak on Venus, stands at an altitude of 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) — 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) higher than Mount Everest.