Planet

Venus

Wrapped in thick clouds

Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is about the same size as Earth, but a visitor would find it very different. Thick clouds cover the whole planet. Beneath them is a rocky surface with mountains and volcanoes. The dense atmosphere traps so much warmth that Venus is even hotter than Mercury.

Sometimes we see Venus as a bright dot in the evening or morning sky. It reflects sunlight rather than making its own light. Scientists use radar to look through the clouds. Robotic spacecraft have landed there and sent pictures before the terrible heat stopped them working.

Let’s build Venus as a puzzle → Explore in the planetarium →

In the planetarium you can spin this world and look at it from every side.

Sources and images

NASA · Venus

Celestial maps: Solar System Scope / INOVE · CC BY 4.0. Thumbnails were reduced and shaded. Artistic SVG maps were created for this project.