Venus Fact Sheet

Venus/Earth Comparison

Bulk parameters

	Venus	Earth	Ratio (Venus/Earth)
Mass (10²⁴ kg)	4.8673	5.9722	0.815
Volume (10¹⁰ km³)	92.843	108.321	0.857
Equatorial radius (km)	6051.8	6378.1	0.949
Polar radius (km)	6051.8	6356.8	0.952
Volumetric mean radius (km)	6051.8	6371.0	0.950
Ellipticity (Flattening)	0.000	0.00335	0.0
Mean density (kg/m³)	5243	5513	0.951
Surface gravity (mean) (m/s²)	8.87	9.82	0.903
Surface acceleration (eq.) (m/s²)	8.87	9.78	0.907
Surface acceleration (pole) (m/s²)	8.87	9.83	0.902
Escape velocity (km/s)	10.36	11.19	0.926
GM (x 10⁶ km³/s²)	0.32486	0.39860	0.815
Bond albedo	0.77	0.294	2.6
Geometric albedo	0.689	0.434	1.59
V-band magnitude V(1,0)	-4.38	-3.99	-
Solar irradiance (W/m²)	2601.3	1361.0	1.911
Black-body temperature (K)	226.6	254.0	0.892
Topographic range (km)	13	20	0.650
Moment of inertia (I/MR²)	0.337	0.3308	1.02
J₂ (x 10^-6)	4.458	1082.63	0.004
Number of natural satellites	0	1
Planetary ring system	No	No

Orbital parameters

	Venus	Earth	Ratio (Venus/Earth)
Semimajor axis (10⁶ km)	108.210	149.598	0.723
Sidereal orbit period (days)	224.701	365.256	0.615
Tropical orbit period (days)	224.695	365.242	0.615
Perihelion (10⁶ km)	107.480	147.095	0.731
Aphelion (10⁶ km)	108.941	152.100	0.716
Synodic period (days)	583.92	-	-
Mean orbital velocity (km/s)	35.02	29.78	1.176
Max. orbital velocity (km/s)	35.26	30.29	1.164
Min. orbital velocity (km/s)	34.78	29.29	1.187
Orbit inclination (deg)	3.395	0.000	-
Orbit eccentricity	0.0068	0.0167	0.407
Sidereal rotation period (hrs)	-5832.6	23.9345	243.690
Length of day (hrs)	2802.0	24.0000	116.750
Obliquity to orbit (deg)	177.36	23.44	-
Inclination of equator (deg)	2.64	23.44	0.113

Venus Observational Parameters

Discoverer:      Unknown
Discovery Date:  Prehistoric

Distance from Earth
        Minimum (10⁶ km)            38.2
        Maximum (10⁶ km)           261.0
Apparent diameter from Earth
        Maximum (seconds of arc)    66.1
        Minimum (seconds of arc)     9.7
Maximum visual magnitude            -4.8
Mean values at inferior conjunction with Earth
        Distance from Earth (10⁶ km)         41.39    
        Apparent diameter (seconds of arc)   60.0

Venus Mean Orbital Elements (J2000)

Semimajor axis (AU)                  0.72333199  
Orbital eccentricity                 0.00677323   
Orbital inclination (deg)            3.39471   
Longitude of ascending node (deg)   76.68069  
Longitude of perihelion (deg)      131.53298  
Mean Longitude (deg)               181.97973

North Pole of Rotation

Right Ascension: 272.76
Declination    :  67.16
Reference Date : 12:00 UT 1 Jan 2000 (JD 2451545.0)

Venus Atmosphere


Surface pressure: 92 bars  
Surface density: ~65. kg/m³
Scale height: 15.9 km
Total mass of atmosphere:  ~4.8 x 10²⁰ kg
Average temperature: 737 K (464 C)
Diurnal temperature range: ~0 
Wind speeds: 0.3 to 1.0 m/s (surface)
Mean molecular weight: 43.45 
Atmospheric composition (near surface, by volume): 
    Major:       96.5% Carbon Dioxide (CO₂), 3.5% Nitrogen (N₂) 
    Minor (ppm): Sulfur Dioxide (SO₂) - 150; Argon (Ar) - 70; Water (H₂O) - 20;
                 Carbon Monoxide (CO) - 17; Helium (He) - 12; Neon (Ne) - 7

Notes on the factsheets - definitions of parameters, units, notes on sub- and superscripts, etc.

Planetary Fact Table - metric units
Planetary Fact Table - U.S. units
Planetary Fact Table - Earth ratio

Venus Home Page

Directory to other Planetary Fact Sheets

Author/Curator:
Dr. David R. Williams, dave.williams@nasa.gov
NSSDCA, Mail Code 690.1
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771
+1-301-286-1258