<Ol> <Li> Jump up ^ Defining the rotation as retrograde, as done by NASA space missions and the USGS, puts Ishtar Terra in the northern hemisphere and makes the axial tilt 2.64 ° . Following the right - hand rule for prograde rotation puts Ishtar Terra in the southern hemisphere and makes the axial tilt 177.36 ° . </Li> </Ol> <Li> Jump up ^ Defining the rotation as retrograde, as done by NASA space missions and the USGS, puts Ishtar Terra in the northern hemisphere and makes the axial tilt 2.64 ° . Following the right - hand rule for prograde rotation puts Ishtar Terra in the southern hemisphere and makes the axial tilt 177.36 ° . </Li> <P> Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days . It has the longest rotation period (243 days) of any planet in the Solar System and rotates in the opposite direction to most other planets . It has no natural satellites . It is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty . It is the second - brightest natural object in the night sky after the Moon, reaching an apparent magnitude of − 4.6--bright enough to cast shadows at night and, rarely, visible to the naked eye in broad daylight . Orbiting within Earth's orbit, Venus is an inferior planet and never appears to venture far from the Sun; its maximum angular distance from the Sun (elongation) is 47.8 ° . </P> <P> Venus is a terrestrial planet and is sometimes called Earth's "sister planet" because of their similar size, mass, proximity to the Sun, and bulk composition . It is radically different from Earth in other respects . It has the densest atmosphere of the four terrestrial planets, consisting of more than 96% carbon dioxide . The atmospheric pressure at the planet's surface is 92 times that of Earth, or roughly the pressure found 900 m (3,000 ft) underwater on Earth . Venus is by far the hottest planet in the Solar System, with a mean surface temperature of 735 K (462 ° C; 863 ° F), even though Mercury is closer to the Sun . Venus is shrouded by an opaque layer of highly reflective clouds of sulfuric acid, preventing its surface from being seen from space in visible light . It may have had water oceans in the past, but these would have vaporized as the temperature rose due to a runaway greenhouse effect . The water has probably photodissociated, and the free hydrogen has been swept into interplanetary space by the solar wind because of the lack of a planetary magnetic field . Venus's surface is a dry desertscape interspersed with slab - like rocks and is periodically resurfaced by volcanism . </P>

Where is venus located in the solar system