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&edu=elem">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&edu=elem">bright star</a> in the morning or evening sky. The planet is slightly smaller than Earth, and its <a href="/venus/interior.html&edu=elem">interior</a> is similar to Earth. We can't see the <a href="/venus/interior/V_global_geography.html&edu=elem">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>

Windows to the Universe Community

News

Opportunities

Upcoming W2U Events
Join Today - Benefits,
No Ads!
Special Offers for Teachers
Member Benefits
Teacher Newsletter
Partnership Opportunities

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

Historical Events

4/19 Death of Charles Darwin, English naturalist, on this date in 1882 Details
4/19 F5 tornado hits Brownwood, Texas on this date in 1976
4/19 Soviet Union launces Salyut 1, First Space Station, in 1971

Full Earth and Space Science    History Calendar (Members only)

Teacher Opportunities

4/19 National Park Week
Details

4/21 Green Week
Details

4/22 Earth Day 2014
Details

Full Teacher Events Calendar (Educator Members only)

Did you know?

Did you know that the atmosphere gets thinner as you go up in altitude?

Did you know that, according to ancient Chinese myth, humans were generated from the fleas which lived on the body of the giant Pan-Ku?

 

Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

Do you know what this word or phrase means?

Moho
xMoho : The boundary between the crust and the mantle in the earth. This is a depth where seismic waves change velocity and there is also a change in chemical composition. Also termed the Mohorovicic' discontinuity after the Croatian seismologist Andrija Moh

Click on the word to find out!

Research Highlights

Even in the Desert, Plants Feel the Heat of Global Warming

Global warming is a hot topic, and it's causing concern for scientists studying winter annuals in the Sonoran Desert. While desert winters have become warmer and drier over the years, climate changes have...Read more


Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation and NASA, our Founding Partners (the American Geophysical Union and American Geosciences Institute) as well as through Institutional, Contributing, and Affiliate Partners, individual memberships and generous donors. Thank you for your support! NASA AGU AGI NSF