Venus
Venus is the the second planet of the Solar System in order of distance from the Sun, being located 0.72 astronomical units from it in the inner solar system. It has a similar size and composition to Earth, with a diameter of 12,104 kilometers and a mass of 4.87 x 10^24 kilograms. The planet has a slow retrograde rotation, meaning it rotates on its axis in the opposite direction to its orbit around the sun, taking 243 Earth days to complete one rotation. Venus has a thick atmosphere primarily composed of carbon dioxide with trace amounts of nitrogen and other gases, as well as sulfuric acid clouds that obscure the surface from visible light. Due to its thick atmosphere and runaway greenhouse effect it experiences extreme surface temperatures, with a maximum temperature of 864 degrees Fahrenheit (462 degrees Celsius). Venus has been observed and studied since ancient times, with the earliest recorded observations dating back to Babylonian astronomers in the 17th century BCE.
Venus is currently in the constellation of Pisces, at a distance of 250,922,153 kilometers from Earth.
View interactive star map
Today's rise, transit and set times of Venus from Greenwich, United Kingdom (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
- Venus is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom .
- Given its current magnitude, Venus is visible to the naked eye, easily even from highly light polluted areas.
- Go to interactive sky chart
If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.
Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Venus is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
Also check out Where is Venus?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Venus in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Venus Distance from Earth
The distance of Venus from Earth is currently 250,922,153 kilometers, equivalent to 1.677311 Astronomical Units. Light takes 13 minutes and 56.9862 seconds to travel from Venus and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Venus from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.
The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of Venus from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest Approach of Venus to Earth
Between 1 January 1600 and 30 December 2499, the closest approach of Venus to Earth happens on Sat Dec 12 1615 at a distance of 0.264008 Astronomical Units, or 39,494,992 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Venus Brightness and Light Curve
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Venus, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.
Venus Physical Data
The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of Venus. Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Physical Parameter | Value | Relative to Earth |
|---|---|---|
| Diameter | 12103.6 km | 0.9499 |
| Mass | 4.86732 x 1024 kg | 0.8150 |
| Density | 5.243 gr/cm3 | 0.9510 |
| Escape Velocity | 10.36 km/s | 0.9258 |
| Sideral Rotation | -5,832.4320 hours | -243.6833 |
| Absolute Magnitude | -4.47 | |
| Geometric Albedo | 0.65 |
Venus 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Venus computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Venus in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Apparent DiameterDiameter | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 Apr 13 | 00h 36m 39s | +02° 20’ 12” | -3.88 | 10.1” | Cetus |
| 2024 Apr 14 | 00h 41m 12s | +02° 49’ 32” | -3.88 | 10.0” | Pisces |
| 2024 Apr 15 | 00h 45m 44s | +03° 18’ 51” | -3.88 | 10.0” | Pisces |
| 2024 Apr 16 | 00h 50m 17s | +03° 48’ 05” | -3.88 | 10.0” | Pisces |
| 2024 Apr 17 | 00h 54m 50s | +04° 17’ 14” | -3.88 | 10.0” | Pisces |
| 2024 Apr 18 | 00h 59m 22s | +04° 46’ 18” | -3.88 | 10.0” | Pisces |
| 2024 Apr 19 | 01h 03m 56s | +05° 15’ 17” | -3.88 | 10.0” | Pisces |
| 2024 Apr 20 | 01h 08m 30s | +05° 44’ 11” | -3.88 | 10.0” | Pisces |
| 2024 Apr 21 | 01h 13m 04s | +06° 12’ 56” | -3.88 | 9.9” | Pisces |
| 2024 Apr 22 | 01h 17m 39s | +06° 41’ 34” | -3.88 | 9.9” | Pisces |
| 2024 Apr 23 | 01h 22m 14s | +07° 10’ 03” | -3.88 | 9.9” | Pisces |
| 2024 Apr 24 | 01h 26m 48s | +07° 38’ 22” | -3.88 | 9.9” | Pisces |
| 2024 Apr 25 | 01h 31m 26s | +08° 06’ 33” | -3.88 | 9.9” | Pisces |
| 2024 Apr 26 | 01h 36m 02s | +08° 34’ 32” | -3.88 | 9.9” | Pisces |