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Venus

Fair but inhospitable Venus, a "Sister" planet to the Earth that is very different from our home. Venus does not have any moons or rings.

Visit another planet: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Dwarf Planets

Venus is the second planet from the Sun, and is Earth's closest neighbor in the <a href="/our_solar_system/solar_system.html">solar system</a>. Venus is the brightest object in the sky after the Sun and the Moon, and sometimes looks like a <a href="/our_solar_system/solar_system.html">bright star</a> in the morning or evening sky. The planet is slightly smaller than Earth, and its <a href="/venus/interior.html">interior</a> is similar to Earth. We can't see the <a href="/venus/interior/V_global_geography.html">surface</a> of Venus from Earth, because it is covered with thick clouds that strongly reflect sunlight.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA/Magellan mission/JPL</em></small></p>

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Explore Venus

Interior and Surface of Venus

Venus is the second planet from the Sun, and is Earth's neighbor in the solar system. Venus ...Read more

Atmosphere of Venus

The atmosphere of Venus is very hot and thick. If you were on the surface of the planet, the ...Read more

The Poles of Venus

Would you expect to find ice caps and snow fields on Venus? Not likely! Venus is the hottest ...Read more

Planetary Facts

All of the relevant information about Venus collected on one page, including details about size, orbit ...Read more

Myth and Culture

There are several interesting myths associated with the planet Venus. While Venus was the goddess ...Read more

Missions to Venus

A table containing information about the spacecraft that have visited Venus ...Read more

Images and Multimedia

Access wonderful captioned photos and illustrations that will inspire and excite you. ...Read more

Venus Links

These are links to other great web sites about Venus. But beware: you don't want to get caught ...Read more

More about Venus

Did you know?

Do you know what causes the different phases of the Moon?

Did you know that Giovanni Schiaparelli's observations of channels on the surface of Mars was mistranslated, causing people to think there was life on Mars?

Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

Do you know what this word or phrase means?

Epicenter

xEpicenter : The epicenter is the point on the earth's surface vertically above the hypocenter (or focus), point in the crust where a seismic rupture begins.

Click on the word to find out!

Research Highlights

Scientists Study "Glaciovolcanoes," Mountains of Fire and Ice, in Iceland, British Columbia, U.S.

Glaciovolcanoes, they're called, these rumbling mountains where the orange-red fire of magma meets the frozen blue of glaciers. Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano, which erupted recently, is but one of...Read more

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