Diameter: 12104 km
SMA: 0.723327 AU
Period: 0.6156 years
Eccentricity: 0.006756
Rotation: -243.018 days
Inclination: 3.4°
Axial tilt: 177.3°

Mass: 4.8675x10²⁴kg
Density: 5243 kg/m³
Gravitation: 8.87 m/s²
Escape velocity: 10.36 m/s
Orbit velocity: 35.02 km/s (mean)

Moons: 0
96% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen, 0.1% water vapor
basaltic rock and altered materials

Venus is the second planet from the sun and our closest planetary neighbor. Similar in structure and size to Earth, Venus spins slowly in the opposite direction most planets do. Its thick atmosphere traps heat in a runaway greenhouse effect, making it the hottest planet in our solar system with surface temperatures hot enough to melt lead. Glimpses below the clouds reveal volcanoes and deformed mountains.

Venus' rotation and orbit are unusual in several ways. Venus is one of just two planets that rotate from east to west. Only Venus and Uranus have this "backwards" rotation. It completes one rotation in 243 Earth days -- the longest day of any planet in our solar system, even longer than a whole year on Venus. But the sun doesn't rise and set each "day" on Venus like it does on most other planets. On Venus, one day-night cycle takes 117 Earth days because Venus rotates in the direction opposite of its orbital revolution around the sun.