A close approach to Venus will not reveal a pure white planet. Venus is completely covered with carbon dioxide clouds laced with concentrated sulfuric acid. The sulfur gives Venus a yellow cast. On the surface, however, the landscape is bathed in an orange light due to the heavy carbon dioxide atmosphere that filters out the blue light and scatters the red. Otherwise the volcanic surface would be a stark, black place.
Water is the key to our planet s variety of colors.
The Moon s basically grayish hues are due to the silicates and metals of a bone-dry world. The Red Planet is red for the same reason that the soil in Clinton, NY, is red - it is rusted. The iron oxides in Mars' soil causes the dustier areas to appear lighter red and the windblown, exposed rockier regions to appear more brown due to less iron and more silicates and other metals. The sky from the surface also appears pinkish-tan due to the dust in the atmosphere. The bright white polar ice caps are made of water and carbon dioxide ice.