Venus for Kids
Planet 2 from the Sun
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. Its day lasts 117 Earth days. Its year lasts 225 Earth days. That is from NASA's planetary fact sheet, checked 29 October 2026. A scale there reads 0.907 times as much as on Earth. Read about it at three levels: Little, Middle and Big, and make your own Space Card.
Venus is a bright planet wrapped in thick clouds. It is the hottest planet of all, hotter than a pizza oven.
Venus is almost the same size as Earth, but its thick clouds trap heat, so it is the hottest planet, about 464 degrees Celsius everywhere. It also spins backwards compared with most planets.
Venus has a thick blanket of carbon dioxide, a runaway greenhouse effect, that makes it hotter than Mercury even though it is farther from the Sun. It turns so slowly, and backwards, that one sunrise to the next takes about 117 Earth days.
On Venus the Sun would rise in the west.
Venus in numbers
| Across | 12,104 km |
|---|---|
| From the Sun | 108.2 million km |
| A day | 117 Earth days |
| A year | 225 Earth days |
| Pull of gravity | 0.907 times Earth's |
| Average temperature | 464 °C |
| Moons | 0 |
Source: NASA planetary fact sheet, checked 29 October 2026.
How big is Venus?
Venus is 12,104 kilometers across, 95 out of every 100 parts of Earth's width. Venus is 108 million kilometers from the Sun, on average.
How hot or cold is Venus?
Venus averages 464 degrees Celsius, hotter than boiling water (100 degrees) all the time.
Does Venus have moons?
Venus has no moons.
Can I see Venus tonight?
Not this week: it is too close to the Sun in the sky, lost in its glare. Sky Tonight gives your own times from a ZIP.
How much would I weigh on Venus?
A child who weighs 80 pounds on Earth would read 73 pounds on Venus. That is a game number: it only shows how hard Venus pulls compared with Earth. Make your own Space Card to guess first and see all eleven worlds.