Venus

Distance From the Sun

• About 67 million miles (108 million km) from the Sun.

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Length of a Year: 225 Earth days
Length of a Day: 243 Earth days

Rotation Type: Retrograde
Mass

• 4.87 × 10²⁴ kg

Surface gravity

About 90% of Earth’s gravity

8.87 m/s²

Density

• 5.24 g/cm³

Atmosphere

Venus has an extremely dense atmosphere.

Composition

• About 96.5% carbon dioxide (CO₂)
• About 3.5% nitrogen

Surface pressure

About 92 times Earth’s atmospheric pressure

Temperature

Venus has a runaway greenhouse effect.

Average surface temperature

• About 465°C (870°F)

Geology: Maxwell Montes

• Tallest mountain on Venus
• About 11 km high

Venus has a rocky surface with:

• Large volcanic plains
• Thousands of volcanoes
• Mountain ranges
• Large lava flows

Periodic Table

• Carbon (C) — in CO2 (dominant atmospheric gas)
• Oxygen (O) — in CO2, SO2, H2O, and sulfates
• Nitrogen (N) — as N2 (minor atmospheric component)
• Sulfur (S) — in SO2 and sulfuric-acid cloud particles
• Hydrogen (H) — in trace H2O and H2SO4 (clouds)
• Argon (Ar), Neon (Ne), Helium (He) — noble gases in trace amounts
• Sodium (Na), Potassium (K), Chlorine (Cl), Fluorine (F) — trace halogens and alkalis detected in atmosphere/cloud chemistry
• Iron (Fe), Magnesium (Mg), Silicon (Si), Calcium (Ca), Aluminum (Al), Titanium (Ti) — inferred crustal/lava composition from radar and basaltic volcanism analogues