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The Curious Bag
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Venus is the second planet from the Sun and the brightest star in Earth's sky. Venus has been observed for thousands of years by amateur and professional astronomers alike, but it was not fully examined until visiting space probes arrived in its vicinity in 1962.
Orbit
Venus' orbit covers a circumference of 680,000,000km. It takes the planet 225 days to complete a single orbit around the Sun.
Position
Venus is positioned between the planets Mercury, closest to the Sun, and Earth at a distance of about 108,200,000km from the Sun's surface.
Rotation
Unlike other planets in the solar system, Venus does not rotate from east to west but from west to east. The reason for this is not fully understood as of 2010.
Considerations
Venus' atmosphere consists primarily of carbon dioxide, and the planet is covered by a dense cloud of sulfuric acid. Therefore, despite the fact that Venus' orbit is farther away from the Sun than Mercury's, Venus is actually hotter than Mercury.
Fun Fact
Venus was first visited by Mariner 2 in 1962. Since then, the planet has been visited numerous times. Photographs of the surface were sent back to Earth for the first time by Vanera 4, a Soviet spacecraft.
Source:
European Space Agency Information
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