Venus

The hottest planet

Venus is like Earth's twin — almost the same size. But it is very, very hot — hot enough to melt lead! Venus is wrapped in thick yellow clouds. And guess what: Venus spins backwards — there, the Sun rises in the west!

Venus is the second planet from the Sun and the hottest in the system (average +464 °C). The reason is a runaway greenhouse effect: its atmosphere is 96% carbon dioxide and 90 times denser than Earth's. Its clouds are made of sulphuric acid. Venus rotates retrograde (backwards) and very slowly: one day lasts 243 Earth days — longer than its year (225 days). Venus is the brightest object in the sky after the Sun and Moon.

Fun facts

• A day on Venus is longer than its year!
• Venus is the brightest 'star' in the sky — but it's really a planet. People call it the 'Morning Star'.
• Spacecraft that landed on Venus stopped working from the heat within 2 hours.
• The pressure on Venus is 90 times Earth's — like being 900 metres deep in the ocean.