Venus: Facts & Figures

Magellan spacecraft radar data enabled scientists to penetrate Venus' thick clouds and create simulated views of the surface.

Venus is a dim world of intense heat and volcanic activity. Similar in structure and size to Earth, Venus' thick, toxic atmosphere traps heat in a runaway "greenhouse effect." The scorched world has temperatures hot enough to melt lead. Glimpses below the clouds reveal volcanoes and deformed mountains. Venus spins slowly in the opposite direction of most planets.

Discovered By		Known by the Ancients
Date of Discovery		Unknown
Orbit Size Around Sun (semi-major axis)		Metric: 108,209,475 km English: 67,238,251 miles Scientific Notation: 1.0820948 x 108 km (7.2333566 x 10-1 A.U.) By Comparison: 0.723 x Earth
Perihelion (closest)		Metric: 107,476,170 km English: 66,782,596 miles Scientific Notation: 1.07476 x 108 km (7.184 x 10-1 A.U.) By Comparison: 0.731 x Earth
Aphelion (farthest)		Metric: 108,942,780 km English: 67,693,905 miles Scientific Notation: 1.08943 x 108 km (0.7282 A.U.) By Comparison: 0.716 x Earth
Sidereal Orbit Period (Length of Year)		0.61519726 Earth years 224.70 Earth days By Comparison: 0.615 x Earth
Orbit Circumference		Metric: 679,892,378 km English: 422,465,538 miles Scientific Notation: 6.799 x 108 km By Comparison: 0.723 x Earth
Average Orbit Velocity		Metric: 126,074 km/h English: 78,339 mph Scientific Notation: 3.5020 x 104 m/s By Comparison: 1.176 x Earth
Orbit Eccentricity		0.00677672 By Comparison: 0.406 x Earth
Orbit Inclination		3.39 degrees
Equatorial Inclination to Orbit		177.3 degrees (retrograde rotation) By Comparison: 7.56 x Earth
Mean Radius		Metric: 6,051.8 km English: 3,760.4 miles Scientific Notation: 6.0518 x 103 km By Comparison: 0.9499 x Earth
Equatorial Circumference		Metric: 38,024.6 km English: 23,627.4 miles Scientific Notation: 3.80246 x 104 km By Comparison: 0.9499 x Earth's
Volume		Metric: 928,415,345,893 km3 English: 222,738,686,740 mi3 Scientific Notation: 9.28415 x 1011 km3 By Comparison: 0.857 x Earth's
Mass		Metric: 4,867,320,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg Scientific Notation: 4.8673 x 1024 kg By Comparison: 0.815 x Earth
Density		Metric: 5.243 g/cm3 By Comparison: Comparable to the average density of the Earth.
Surface Area		Metric: 460,234,317 km2 English: 177,697,463 square miles Scientific Notation: 4.6023 x 108 km2 By Comparison: 0.902 x Earth
Surface Gravity		Metric: 8.87 m/s2 English: 29.1 ft/s2 By Comparison: If you weigh 100 pounds on Earth, you would weigh 91 pounds on Venus.
Escape Velocity		Metric: 37,296 km/h English: 23,175 mph Scientific Notation: 1.036 x 104 m/s By Comparison: 0.926 x Earth
Sidereal Rotation Period (Length of Day)		-243.018 Earth days (retrograde) -5832.4 hours (retrograde) By Comparison: 243.68 x Earth
Minimum/Maximum Surface Temperature		Metric: 462 °C English: 864 °F Scientific Notation: 735 K
Atmospheric Constituents		Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen Scientific Notation: CO2, N2 By Comparison: Earth's atmosphere consists mostly of N2 and O2. CO2 is largely responsible for the Greenhouse Effect and is used for carbonation in beverages. N2 is 80% of Earth's air and is a crucial element in DNA.