Venus is the second planet from the sun and very similar in size to the Earth, its diameter is only 400 miles (644 km) smaller than Earth.

At its closest point to Earth the planet is a mere 24 million miles away (38 million km).

It orbits the sun at an average distance of 67 million miles (108 million km).

The planet orbits around the sun every 225 days but rotates on its own axis slower than any other planet, taking 243 days compared to 24 hours on Earth. Meaning a day on Venus is longer than its year! It also rotates in the opposite direction of the other planets.

It is surrounded by extremely thick cloud making it impossible to see the surface from orbit without radar or radio equipment.

The force of gravity is only 12% less than we have on Earth but the extreme weight of atmospheric pressure would crush a human.

Apart from the moon Venus is the brightest object in the night sky.

It was the first planet to be observed by a passing spacecraft.

About 65 percent of Venus is covered by flat plains, it also has mountains, canyons and valleys. There are thousands of volcanos on Venus, some up to 150 miles (240km) in diameter. Venus also has ring-like structures called coronae which do not exist on Earth.

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The atmosphere of Venus is heavier than any other planet. It consists mainly of carbon dioxide with small amounts of nitrogen and water vapor.

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Extremely hot! The temperature at the uppermost clouds of Venus average about 13C (55F) however the surface temperature is a baking 465C (870F), the hottest surface of any planet in the solar system.

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Diameter: 7,521 miles (12,104 km)
Average Distance from Sun: 67 million miles (108 million km)
Orbital Period: 225 days
Rotation Period: 243 days
Maximium Surface Temperatures: 465C (870F)
Minumum Surface Temperatures: same as maximum
Gravity: 8.87 m/s² (91% Earth's Gravity)
Density: 5.24 g/cm³ (95% Earth's Density)
Mass: 4.8685 x 10²⁴ kg (81.5% Earth's Mass)
Volume: 9.284 x 10¹¹ km³ (88% Earth's Volume)
Atmosphere: 96% Carbon dioxide, 3.5% Nitrogen, 0.015% Sulfur dioxide, 0.007% Argon, 0.002% Water vapor, 0.001 7% Carbon monoxide, 0.001 2% Helium.

Venus is often referred to as Earth’s sister planet or even twin. This is mainly due to the fact that it is very similar in size to our own planet. As it turns out we share other similarities, the mass, density and gravity of Venus are all very similar to Earths. Indeed studies have shown that a few billions years ago it had liquid water flowing over its surface and may well have harboured primitive lifeforms. Unfortunately for the planet there are also fundamental differences which means that while Earth is a hospitable world teeming with life, Venus is a choked, oven baked desert.

The atmospheres of both worlds are very different, Earth’s is thin and nitrogen based whereas the atmosphere on Venus is extremely thick and composed almost entirely of carbon dioxide. Ninety percent of Earth’s atmosphere is within just 6 miles (10 km) of its surface, on Venus it would be 30 miles (50 km) from its surface before reaching 90% of its atmosphere. As a result of having the heaviest atmosphere of any planet in the solar system atmospheric pressure on Venus is a massive 90 times stronger than on Earth, the equivalent of being more than a kilometre under the ocean, a human being would be crushed in these conditions. Perhaps the biggest difference is the intense heat, surface temperatures can reach an incredible 465C (870F) which is hot enough to melt lead.

So where did it all go wrong for our twin planet? Well unfortunately it was just too close to the sun. The water it once had flowing across its surface quickly evaporated and without the cleansing effect of rain huge amounts of carbon dioxide built up in its atmosphere from intense volcanic activity. This created a runaway greenhouse effect, our twin reached the point of no return ending up with the hottest surface temperature of any planet in the solar system.

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Surface of Venus (Venera 13) 1981

Radar images of the Venusian surface

Venus under the clouds

Diameter: 7,521 miles (12,104 km)
Average Distance from Sun: 67 million miles (108 million km)
Orbital Period: 225 days
Rotation Period: 243 days

Maximium Surface Temperatures: 465C (870F)
Minumum Surface Temperatures: same as maximum

Gravity: 8.87 m/s² (91% Earth's Gravity)
Density: 5.24 g/cm³ (95% Earth's Density)
Mass: 4.8685 x 10²⁴ kg (81.5% Earth's Mass)
Volume: 9.284 x 10¹¹ km³ (88% Earth's Volume)

Atmosphere: 96% Carbon dioxide, 3.5% Nitrogen, 0.015% Sulfur dioxide, 0.007% Argon, 0.002% Water vapor, 0.001 7% Carbon monoxide, 0.001 2% Helium,
0.000 7% Neon.

Diameter: 7,926 miles (12,756 km)
Average Distance from Sun: 93 million miles (150 million km)
Orbital Period: 365.24 days
Rotation Period: 23.934 hours

Maximium Surface Temperatures: 58C (136F)
Minumum Surface Temperatures: -88C (-126F)

Gravity: 9.766 m/s²
Density: 5.515 g/cm³
Mass: 5.9737 x 10²⁴ kg
Volume: 1.0832 x 10¹² km³

Atmosphere: 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.038% carbon dioxide, water vapour makes up around 0.4% of Earth's atmosphere depending on climatic conditions.