Where is Venus on theskylive.com?*
Venus is the 2nd planet from the sun in the solar system, but where is it in earth’s night sky? With its orbit of 224.7 Earth days it is known as a morning star and an evening star (even though it’s not a star) because it sometimes rises before the sun, and sometimes sets after the sun. Is it up? Or is it hiding on the other side of earth? When it’s up in the night sky, Venus is the brightest object in the sky, after the Moon.
*Location is set for Greenwich, UK. For accurate Rise/Set times adjust your location.
Named after the ancient Roman goddess of beauty, Venus is known for its exceptional brightness. Find out about the volcanoes that dot Venus’s surface, the storms that rage in its atmosphere, and the surprising feature that makes Venus outshine every planet or star in the night sky.
Venus is the second planet from the Sun and slightly smaller than Earth. Venus is a terrestrial planet and is sometimes called Earth’s “sister planet” because of similar size, mass, proximity to the Sun, and bulk composition. However, Venus is radically different from Earth in other respects — especially atmosphere. Venus has the densest atmosphere of the four terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars), consisting of more than 96% carbon dioxide. The atmospheric pressure at the surface of Venus is 92 times that of Earth, or roughly the pressure found 900 meters (3,000 ft) underwater on Earth.
When viewed from Earth, the brightness of Venus can reach an apparent magnitude of −4.6, which is bright enough for its reflected light to cast shadows.
