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>

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?

Do you know how radiocarbon dating works?

Do you know why we are all sometimes called "carbon units"?

 

Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

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Tsunami
xTsunami : A tsunami is a sea wave of local or distant origin that results from large-scale seafloor displacements associated with large earthquakes, major submarine slides, or exploding volcanic islands.

Click on the word to find out!

Research Highlights

Geologists Uncover Major Ancient Human Ancestor in South Africa

Researchers working in South Africa have discovered two remarkably well-preserved fossil skeletons of an ancient human ancestor dating to almost two million years ago. The discovery is described in two...Read more


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