Venus

Venus is the second Planet from the Sun and Earth's closest planetary neighbor. Named after the Roman goddess of love, it shines brilliantly in our sky as the "Morning Star" or "Evening Star"—though it is not a star at all.

Venus is a hellish world of extremes. Its surface temperature reaches 465°C (869°F), hot enough to melt lead, driven by a runaway Thermal greenhouse effect. The atmosphere is primarily carbon dioxide at crushing pressures 92 times greater than Earth's, with clouds of sulfuric acid. Despite these hostilities, Venus fascinates planetary scientists and astrobiologists who study how atmospheres evolve and whether Venus once harbored liquid water.

The planet rotates backwards relative to most planets and spins so slowly that a Venusian day lasts longer than its year. Models suggest Venus may have once been habitable, with oceans and orbital dynamics supporting life—a cautionary tale about feedback loops and irreversible change.

Venus remains challenging to explore. Its surface has been imaged by Radar and visited by Soviet landers, revealing vast volcanic plains and highland regions. Modern missions seek to understand Venus's past and what planetary transformation teaches us about habitability.

Related

Planet, Greenhouse effect, Atmosphere, Solar system, Exoplanet