Venus

Venus

Planet· orbits the Sun

Venus is the second planet from the Sun and the hottest in the Solar System: a runaway greenhouse beneath a dense carbon-dioxide atmosphere and sulphuric-acid clouds, with a surface pressure 92× Earth's.

Open in 3D viewSee Venus in the live, interactive 3D map

Key facts

Mass
4.87 × 10²⁴ kg
0.815 M⊕
Radius
6,052 km
95% of Earth's radius
Surface gravity
8.87 m/s²
90% of Earth's
Day length
243.0 days
Year
225 Earth days
Distance from Sun
0.723 AU
Moons
None

Science

Physical

Mass
4.87 × 10²⁴ kg · 0.815 M⊕
Radius
6,052 km · 95% of Earth's radius
Density
5,243 kg/m³ · 5.2× water
Surface gravity
8.87 m/s² · 90% of Earth's
Escape velocity
10.4 km/s · 93% of Earth's
Axial tilt
2.64 °

Orbital

Distance from the Sun
0.728 AU
Semi-major axis
0.723 AU
Eccentricity
0.006774
Inclination
24.44 °
Orbital period
224.7 days
Perihelion
0.718 AU
Aphelion
0.728 AU
Mean orbital velocity
35 km/s

Rotation

Rotation period
243.0 days
Direction
Retrograde

Atmosphere

Composition
96.5% CO₂, 3.5% N₂
Surface pressure
92 bar
Scale height
15.9 km

Temperature

Minimum
735 K (462 °C)
Mean
737 K (464 °C)
Maximum
740 K (467 °C)

Composition

Bulk composition
Iron core, silicate mantle; volcanic basaltic plains

Radiation & temperature

Insolation
1.91 S⊕ · 1.91× the sunlight Earth receives
Bond albedo
0.76 · reflects 76% of incoming sunlight
Equilibrium temperature
229 K (-44 °C)
Measured mean temperature
737 K (464 °C)
Greenhouse warming
+508 K

Discovery & history

First known
Known since antiquity
Name
The Roman goddess of love and beauty — fitting for the brightest planet.

As the brightest natural object in the sky after the Sun and Moon, Venus has been known since prehistory and features in the records of nearly every ancient civilisation. Galileo's 1610 observation of its phases was powerful evidence that the planets orbit the Sun. Its hellish surface, hidden beneath sulphuric-acid clouds, was finally mapped by radar from the Magellan orbiter in the 1990s.

  1. 1962Mariner 2Flyby

    First successful flyby of another planet; found Venus searingly hot with no magnetic field.

  2. 1970Venera 7Lander

    First soft landing on another planet; transmitted 23 minutes from the surface of Venus.

  3. 1974Mariner 10Flyby

    Used Venus's gravity to reach Mercury — the first interplanetary gravity assist — imaging its clouds in UV.

  4. 1982Venera 13Lander

    Returned the first colour images and a soil analysis from Venus, surviving 127 minutes in the heat.

  5. 1990MagellanOrbiter

    Radar-mapped 98% of the surface of Venus through its permanent clouds (1990–94).

Images

Venus's swirling cloud tops — Mariner 10's classic view, contrast-enhanced (NASA 2020 reprocessing)
NASA / JPL-Caltech (public domain) · Wikimedia Commons
Venus as the eye would see it (left) beside the contrast-enhanced view (right) — Mariner 10
NASA / JPL-Caltech · Wikimedia Commons
Venus's cloud tops in ultraviolet, imaged by Mariner 10
NASA / JPL-Caltech (public domain) · Wikimedia Commons
The surface beneath the clouds — a global radar view of Venus from Magellan (computer-assembled mosaic)
NASA / JPL (public domain) · Wikimedia Commons
Maat Mons, Venus's tallest volcano — computer-generated perspective from Magellan radar data (vertical scale exaggerated)
NASA / JPL (public domain) · Wikimedia Commons
The surface of Venus, photographed by the Venera 13 lander (1 March 1982)
USSR Academy of Sciences (public domain — automatic camera) · Wikimedia Commons

Images from open archives · credit shown per image