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=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/triton_atmosphere.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&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/triton_atmosphere.html">bright star</a> in the morning or evening sky. The planet is slightly smaller than Earth, and its <a href="/venus/interior.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/triton_atmosphere.html">interior</a> is similar to Earth. We can't see the <a href="/venus/interior/V_global_geography.html&edu=high&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/triton_atmosphere.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>

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

Full Earth and Space Science    History Calendar (Members only)

Teacher Opportunities

Full Teacher Events Calendar (Educator Members only)

Did you know?

Did you know that Pluto is not always outside the orbit of Neptune?

Did you know that about 250 million years ago, almost all life in the ocean became extinct?

 

Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

Do you know what this word or phrase means?

Orographic lift
xOrographic lift : Occurs when an air mass is forced to rise over geographic relief from a lower elevation. As the air mass rises it expands and cools adiabatically, which can raise the relative humidity to 100%, create clouds and precipitation.

Click on the word to find out!

Research Highlights

Pollution from Asia Circles Globe at Stratospheric Heights

The economic growth across much of Asia comes with a side effect: pollutants from the region are wafting up to the stratosphere during monsoon season. The new finding, in a study led by scientists at the...Read more


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