astronomylabMeet the Moon
Terrestrial planet / World 02

Venus

Our brilliant, inhospitable neighbor.

Under its bright cloud cover, Venus has a crushing carbon dioxide atmosphere. A powerful greenhouse effect makes it hotter than Mercury, despite being farther from the Sun.

Explore this orbit ↗
Venus, NASA and mission partners

Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech. Processed mission imagery; apparent color varies with filters and processing.

Equatorial diameter12,104 km
One orbit0.62 years
Distance from Sun0.72 AU
Solar day2,802 hours

Venus compared with Earth

Its equatorial diameter is 0.95 times Earth’s. Its mass is 0.82 times Earth’s, while its orbital period is 0.62 Earth years.

The reference gravity is about 8.9 m/s². These rounded values include the reference conventions used in NASA’s fact sheet; the ideal spherical gravity calculator can differ slightly.

NASA reference data ↗

Keep wondering

A few good questions

How far is Venus from the Sun?

Venus has a mean orbital distance of about 108.2 million kilometers, or 0.72 AU. Its actual distance varies through its elliptical orbit.

How long is a year on Venus?

An orbit takes approximately 224.7 Earth days. The orbit simulator lets you see how distance affects the length of a year.