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Venus Radar View

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Venus - Surface Radar
Credit: Almond/NASA

Venus is the second planet out from the Sun, and is the brightest object in the night sky other than the Moon. Whilst it has no satellites, it is very unusual in that it spins in a different direction to all the other planets.

The planet is covered in a thick layer of cloud and has a surface pressure around 90 times that seen on Earth. The surface radar image (seen right) shows surface features below the cloud layer, but to return to the cloud-tops view, click here.

The temperature at the surface is very high (up to 460 °C), and is actually hotter than the closest planet to the Sun, Mercury. This is because it has a very strong Greenhouse Effect.

Since the first visit of Mariner 2 in 1962, more than 20 spacecraft have been to Venus.

Planet Data Sheet show »« hide

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