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Venus: Location and Orbit
Facts in Brief
| Aphelion | 1.09 x 108 km |
| Perihelion | 1.08 x 108 km |
| Minimum Distance from Earth | 4.14 x 107 km |
| Rotational Period | 243 Days |
| Orbital Period | 0.62 Years* (225 Days) * The approximation of 365.256 days per year is used. |
| Orbital Inclination | 3.39o |
| Eccentricity | 0.0068 |
| Axial Tilt | 177o 22" |
Relative Location
The second planet from the Sun, Venus is one of the two inferior planets of our solar system. Venus at its farthest is 1.09 x 108 km from the center of the solar system and 1.08 x 108 km at its nearest. This close proximity to the Sun accounts for the average surface temperature on Venus of 482 degrees Celsius. It takes 0.62 Earth years, or 225 Earth days, to complete one revolutionary period and 243 Earth days to complete a rotational period. This makes a Venus day longer than a Venus year! At an orbital inclination of 3.39 degrees and an eccentricity of 0.0068, the planet's orbit about the Sun is almost perfectly circular.Seeing Venus from Earth
Coming at times within 4.14 x 107 km to Earth, Venus is easily the brightest object in the night sky, with the sole exception of the Moon. The planet is at most visible for three hours prior to sunrise and three hours following sunset. Venus's rotation about its axis is retrograde, meaning that it spins in a direction opposite to that of Earth. In other words, an observer on the planet would see the Sun rising in the west and setting in the east! Like the Moon, Venus has "phases." Full Venus can be seen when the planet is at its farthest distance of 2.57 x 108 km from Earth. It is most bright during its crescent phase.Ancient astronomers believed that Venus was actually two separate bodies due to the relative orbits of Earth and Venus. The first body was called the morning star, which appears in the east at sunrise. The morning star was given the name Phosphorus or Lucifer. The second body appears in the west at sunset and was aptly named the evening star. The ancient name for it was Hesperus.