SpaceAbout Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun and Earth's closest planetary neighbour. It is the hottest planet in the solar system. Its atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide, with thick clouds of sulphuric acid, and it traps heat. Venus spins slowly in the opposite direction from most planets, and it is the third brightest object in the sky after the Sun and the Moon.
Source: NASA, read on 12 November 2026.
Venus compared with Earth
Size. Venus is 12,104 km across. That is 95% of the width of Earth (12,756 km). The two are close in size. Its mass is 0.816 times Earth's.
Gravity and your weight. Gravity at the surface is 8.9 m/s², against 9.8 on Earth. So things weigh 91% of what they do on Earth. Someone who weighs 50 kg on Earth would feel like 45.4 kg there. Try your own weight in the weight calculator.
Day. Venus turns once on its axis in 243 Earth days, and it turns backwards compared with Earth, which the fact sheet shows with a minus sign. From one noon to the next, its day lasts 116.8 Earth days. The two figures differ because it also moves along its orbit while it spins.
Year. One trip round the Sun takes 224.7 Earth days, which is 0.62 Earth years. A ten-year-old on Earth would be 16.3 years old there, counting in that world's years. See the age calculator.
Distance. Venus is on average 108.2 million km from the Sun, between 107.5 million km at its closest and 108.9 million km at its farthest. Sunlight takes 6 minutes to arrive. That is 0.72 times Earth's distance.
Tilt and temperature. Its axis is tilted by 177.4°. A tilt of more than 90° means it spins the other way round, almost upside down. The mean temperature in the fact sheet is 464 °C.
Moons, rings and magnetism. Venus has no moons. Rings: no. A global magnetic field: no.
All the figures
| Diameter | 12,104 km |
|---|---|
| Mass | 4.87 × 10²⁴ kg |
| Density | 5,243 kg/m³ |
| Gravity | 8.9 m/s² |
| Escape velocity | 10.4 km/s |
| Rotation period | −5,832.5 hours |
| Length of day | 2,802 hours |
| Distance from the Sun | 108.2 million km |
| Closest | 107.5 million km |
| Farthest | 108.9 million km |
| Orbital period | 224.7 days |
| Orbital velocity | 35 km/s |
| Orbital inclination | 3.4° |
| Orbital eccentricity | 0.007 |
| Tilt of axis | 177.4° |
| Mean temperature | 464 °C |
| Surface pressure | 92 bar |
| Moons | 0 |
| Rings | No |
| Global magnetic field | No |
Figures: NASA NSSDCA Planetary Fact Sheet, last updated by NASA on 18 March 2025, read on 12 November 2026. NASA rounds these values. Counts of moons change as new ones are confirmed.
Common questions
How big is Venus compared with Earth?
Venus is 12,104 km across, 0.95 times the diameter of Earth.
How long is a day on Venus?
From noon to noon, a day on Venus lasts 116.8 Earth days.
How many moons does Venus have?
The NASA fact sheet read on 12 November 2026 gives none.