Venus

Venus is the brightest planet visible from Earth because it reflects so much sunlight due to its reflective cloud cover. Some people consider Venus to be Earth's twin or sister planet. It is our nearest neighbor and is a rocky planet similar in size, mass, and composition to Earth, but Venus is also very different.

(Image Right: A radar image of Venus collected by the Magellan spacecraft in 1990, Courtesy of NASA)

Venus and Earth formed about the same time and condensed out of the same nebula. Their surface features and atmospheres were probably similar then, but no longer. Venus is an inferno where suffocating carbon dioxide creates a greenhouse effect, making it the hottest planet in the Solar System.

Features

: Volcano Maat Mons (Courtesy of NASA)

Venus's rocky landscape was formed by intense volcanic activity - a process that continues today. Rolling volcanic plains with highland regions cover much of the planet. There are almost 1,000 large impact craters on Venus. It is a dusty, dry, and desert-like place.

There is no way to escape the heat on Venus! It is even hotter than Mercury, although it is the second planet from the sun. Venus' atmosphere is hot, poisonous gas made up mostly of carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide acts like a blanket trapping heat from the Sun causing Venus' high temperatures. It has the heaviest atmosphere of the terrestrial planets. The pressure on Venus is so great it would crush you, just as it smashed space probes after only a few hours.

Find out more about the features of Venus at NASA's Solar System Exploration website.

Missions

: Magellan spacecraft (Courtesy of NASA)

Venus was the first planet observed by passing spacecraft. Over 20 missions by the United States and Russia collected more information about Venus than any other planet, except Earth. The Galileo mission used infrared mapping to view clouds.

The Magellan spacecraft was the first planetary explorer launched by a space shuttle, when Atlantis carried it in 1989. Radar on Magellan penetrated Venus's thick clouds to map 99% of the planet's surface. Future missions to study the planet's surface are planned for 2013 and 2020.

Myths, Stories, and More

Named for the Roman goddess of love and beauty, Venus is dazzling at night. In Greek mythology, she was called Aphrodite. Venus is the only planet in the Solar System named after a female figure. In fact, most of the surface features of Venus have the names of famous Earth women.

Earth Matters

: Size comparison of Venus and Earth (Courtesy of NASA)

People from many lands have called Venus the Morning Star or the Evening Star. Since Venus orbits near the Sun, it always appears just after sunset and just before sunrise. Besides the Moon and the Sun, Venus is the brightest object in the sky. On Earth, you can see Venus display phases like those of the Moon.

Venus is cloud-covered like Earth, but the clouds are sulfuric acid and carbon dioxide instead of water. A number of surface features on Venus are unlike anything on Earth. Unlike Earth, Venus does not rotate in the same direction it travels around the sun. Rotating slowly, Venus spins backwards (clockwise) causing the Sun to rise in the west and set in the east. Venus travels around the Sun in 225 Earth-days and takes 243 days to rotate.