Venus Facts for Kids

A Picture of the Planet Venus
  • Planet Name: Venus
  • Type of Planet: Terrestrial planet
  • Solar System Region: Inner Solar System
  • Distance from the Sun: 66,700,000 (perihelion) miles to 67,000,000 miles (aphelion)
  • Time to Orbit Around the Sun: About 225 Earth days
  • Moons (natural satellites): 0
  • Total Surface Area: 177,639,880 square miles (0.902 Earths)

18 Venus Facts for Kids

  1. The planet Venus formed about 4.5 billion years ago.
  2. The planet Venus was first observed via a telescope in 1610, by Galileo Galilei.
  3. The planet Venus is the second closest planet to our Sun.
  4. Venus is a terrestrial planet.
  5. Venus is the sixth largest planet in our Solar System.
  6. The radius of the planet Venus is 3,760 miles.
  7. Venus’s perihelion (closest) distance to the Sun is 91 million miles.
  8. Venus’s aphelion (farthest) distance to the Sun is 94.5 million miles.
  9. Light from our Solar System’s Sun takes only six minutes to reach Venus.
  10. It takes Venus 225 Earth days complete an orbit around the Sun.
  11. It takes Venus 243 Earth days to complete one rotation, and that’s longer then it takes the planet to complete an orbit around the Sun.
  12. The surface temperature on Venus can reach over 860 Fahrenheit (460 Celsius), and that’s hot enough to melt lead.
  13. Venus has no known moons (natural satellites).
  14. The planet Venus has no rings.
  15. Venus has a very thick atmosphere, which mostly contains carbon dioxide.
  16. Venus is the hottest planet, even though it’s not as close to the Sun as Mercury. This is an effect of its thick atmosphere filled with carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.
  17. Venus has more than 1,600 volcanoes and that’s more than any other planet in our Solar System.
  18. Some scientist think life could have existed on Venus in the past or in the top layer of its clouds. However, there is no proof that life ever existed on the planet Venus.

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