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Venus is the second planet from the Sun.It is a terrestrial planet and is the closest in mass and size to its orbital neighbour Earth.Venus has by far the densest atmosphere of the terrestrial planets, composed mostly of carbon dioxide with a thick, global sulfuric acid cloud cover.
The longitudes of perihelion were only 29 degrees apart at J2000, so the smallest distances, which come when inferior conjunction happens near Earth's perihelion, occur when Venus is near perihelion. An example was the transit of December 6, 1882: Venus reached perihelion Jan 9, 1883, and Earth did the same on December 31.
The orbit of Venus is 224.7 Earth days (7.4 avg. Earth months [30.4 days]). The phases of Venus result from the planet's orbit around the Sun inside the Earth's orbit giving the telescopic observer a sequence of progressive lighting similar in appearance to the Moon's phases. It presents a full image when it is on the opposite side of the Sun.
The surface of Venus is comparatively flat. When 93% of the topography was mapped by Pioneer Venus Orbiter, scientists found that the total distance from the lowest point to the highest point on the entire surface was about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi), about the same as the vertical distance between the Earth's ocean floor and the higher summits of the Himalayas.
Venus is similar in size and distance from the sun when compared with Earth, and some researchers believe the planet might have even had an Earth-like climate at some point.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Venus: . Venus – second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. It has the longest rotation period (243 days) of any planet in the Solar System and rotates in the opposite direction to most other planets.
By Will Dunham. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Earth is an ocean world, with water covering about 71% of its surface. Venus, our closest planetary neighbor, is sometimes called Earth's twin based on their ...
The orbit of Venus has an inclination of 3.39° relative to that of the Earth, and so passes under (or over) the Sun when viewed from the Earth. [1] A transit occurs when Venus reaches conjunction with the Sun whilst also passing through the Earth's orbital plane, and passes directly across the face of the Sun. [citation needed] [note 1 ...