VENUS
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" among the planets of the Solar System for its orbit being the closest to Earth's, both being rocky planets and having the most similar and nearly equal size and mass. Venus, though, differs significantly by having no liquid water, and its atmosphere is far thicker and denser than that of any other rocky body in the Solar System. It is composed of mostly carbon dioxide and has a cloud layer of sulfuric acid that spans the whole planet. At the mean surface level, the atmosphere reaches a temperature of 737 K (464 °C; 867 °F) and a pressure 92 times greater than Earth's at sea level, turning the lowest layer of the atmosphere into a supercritical fluid.
From Earth Venus is visible as a star-like point of light, appearing brighter than any other natural point of light in Earth's sky, and as an inferior planet always relatively close to the Sun, either as the brightest "morning star" or "evening star".
The orbits of Venus and Earth make the two planets approach each other in synodic periods of 1.6 years. In the course of this, Venus comes closer to Earth than any other planet, while on average Mercury stays closer to Earth and any other planet, due to its orbit being closer to the Sun. For interplanetary spaceflights, Venus is frequently used as a waypoint for gravity assists because it offers a more economical and faster route. Venus has no moons and has a very slow retrograde rotation about its axis, a result of competing forces of solar tidal locking and differential heating of Venus's massive atmosphere. As a result a Venusian day is 116.75 Earth days long, about half a Venusian solar year, which is 224.7 Earth days long.
Venus has a weak magnetosphere, lacking an internal dynamo it is induced by the solar wind interacting with the atmosphere.
Internally, Venus has a core, mantle, and crust. Internal heat escapes through active volcanism, resulting in resurfacing, instead of plate tectonics. Venus may have had liquid surface water early in its history with a habitable environment, before a runaway greenhouse effect evaporated any water and turned Venus into its present state. Conditions at the cloud layer of Venus have been identified as possibly favourable for life on Venus, with possible biomarkers having been found in 2020, which has spurred new research and missions to Venus.
Humans have observed Venus throughout history across the globe, acquiring particular importance in many cultures. With telescopes, the phases of Venus became discernible and, by 1613, were presented as decisive evidence disproving the then-dominant geocentric model and supporting the heliocentric model. Venus was visited for the first time in 1961 by Venera 1, which flew past the planet, achieving the first interplanetary spaceflight. The first data from Venus were returned during the second interplanetary mission, Mariner 2, in 1962. In 1967, the first interplanetary impactor, Venera 4, reached Venus, followed by the lander Venera 7 in 1970. The data from these missions revealed the strong greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide in its atmosphere, which raised concerns about increasing carbon dioxide levels in Earth's atmosphere and their role in driving climate change. As of 2025, JUICE and Solar Orbiter are on their way to fly-by Venus in 2025 and 2026 respectively, and the next mission planned to launch to Venus is the Venus Life Finder scheduled for 2026.
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