Venus

Earth's Mysterious Twin

Second planet from the Sun. Shrouded in acid clouds. Hot enough to melt lead. Welcome to the solar system's most hostile world.

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♀ Venus
01 / 05
🌋

Earth's Evil Twin

Venus is nearly identical to Earth in size and structure — but the similarities end there. It's the hottest planet in the solar system, wrapped in thick clouds of sulfuric acid, with surface pressure that would crush a submarine.

2ndFrom Sun
6thBiggest
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Why "Earth's Twin"?
Venus is often called Earth's twin because it's nearly identical in size (12,104 km diameter vs Earth's 12,742 km) and has a similar internal structure — a metallic core, molten mantle, and rocky crust.

But the environment on the surface is the most hostile in the inner solar system. It's a cautionary tale of what happens when a runaway greenhouse effect takes over.
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♀ Venus
02 / 05
🔥

A Runaway Oven

Venus is farther from the Sun than Mercury, yet it's hotter — a constant 475°C (900°F) everywhere. The atmosphere is 96% carbon dioxide, trapping heat in a runaway greenhouse effect.

CLOUD TOPS: -10°C SURFACE: +475°C
🎯 Lead melts at 327°C — Venus is hot enough to melt lead
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Landing on Venus
The Soviet Venera probes are the only spacecraft to have landed on Venus. Venera 7 (1970) transmitted for 23 minutes before being crushed and melted. Venera 13 (1982) lasted 127 minutes and sent back the only color photos from the surface.

No lander has survived more than two hours in Venus's hellish conditions. The pressure is 92 times Earth's — like being 900m underwater.
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♀ Venus
03 / 05
☁️

Acid Rain &
Supersonic Winds

Those beautiful yellow clouds? They're sulfuric acid, not water. And the atmosphere whips around the planet at 360 km/h — 60 times faster than Venus itself rotates.

360 km/h
🌪️ Super-rotation 60× planet spin
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Acid Rain That Never Lands
Sulfuric acid rain falls from the clouds, but the surface is so hot (475°C) that it evaporates back into gas about 25 km above the ground. It never touches the surface.

Venus has a constant cycle of acid virga — rain that evaporates before it lands. This is one of the weirdest weather phenomena in the solar system.
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♀ Venus
04 / 05
🌀

A Day Longer
Than a Year

Venus rotates so slowly that a single day lasts 243 Earth days. But its year — one orbit around the Sun — is only 225 Earth days.

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Venus (retrograde)
243Earth days = 1 Venus day 225Earth days = 1 Venus year
Rotation243 days
Orbit225 days
DirectionRetrograde
SunriseIn West
Axis tilt177°
SeasonsNone
One more fact
The Backwards Planet
Astronomers believe Venus was struck by a massive object early in its formation. That giant impact may have flipped its axis or slowed its rotation to a crawl, leaving it spinning in the opposite direction (retrograde).

It's also why Venus has no moon — any debris from the collision either fell back or was flung away by tidal forces.
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♀ Venus
05 / 05
🦠

Is There Life
in the Clouds?

In 2020, scientists detected phosphine in Venus's upper atmosphere — a gas that on Earth is only produced by microbes or industrial processes.

2020Phosphine Found
50kmHabitable Zone
2030sNew Missions
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New Missions to Venus
• NASA DAVINCI (2031): Will drop a probe through the atmosphere to measure chemistry.
• NASA VERITAS (2031): Will map the surface in high-resolution radar.
• ESA EnVision (2030s): Will study the interior and atmosphere.
• Rocket Lab (2026): A private mission to search for organic molecules in the clouds.

The phosphine debate has reignited interest in Earth's mysterious twin.
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