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For Venus' current position and visibility, see the Planet Wheel.

Venus

The Evening Star, The Morning Star

Second Planet of the Solar System

Proper Name	Venus
Orbital Period	224.70 days
Distance from the Sun	Semi-Major Axis: 108,208,930 km (0.72 AU) Perihelion: 107,476,139 km (0.72 AU) Aphelion: 108,941,721 km (0.73 AU)
Eccentricity	0.0068
Rotation Period	243 days, 0 hours, 32 minutes
Diameter	12,103 km
Mean Surface Temperature	737 K (464°C)
Moons	None
Parent star	The Sun, yellow dwarf
Other planets in this system	Mercury, terrestrial planet Earth, terrestrial planet Mars, terrestrial planet Jupiter, gas giant Saturn, gas giant Uranus, ice giant Neptune, ice giant Numerous dwarf planets, asteroids and other bodies
Notes	The second planet of the Solar System from the Sun, Venus shines as the brightest object in the sky after the Sun and Moon. Its surface is permanently obscured by an unbroken layer of sulphur dioxide clouds.

Because Venus' orbit is closer to the Sun than the Earth's, it never appears far from the Sun in the Earth's sky. This effect means that the brilliant planet is most often seen in the hours before dawn, or after sunset, giving it the names of Morning and Evening Star.

Venus' diameter of 12,103 km makes it the second largest of the terrestrial planets, at around 95% the size of Earth.

A beautiful and brilliant sight in the evening or morning sky, Venus is actually an inhospitable world, with 'rain' composed of sulphuric acid, and a surface temperature of more than 400°C.

A pleasant day on Venus: the landscape bakes in temperatures hot enough to melt tin. Nearby, stirred by the wind,a lake of sulphuric acid froths.

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