6 mind-blowing blowing images of Venus taken by NASA

Venus is a terrestrial planet in our solar system, and the second planet from the sun.

Venus rotates on its axis in 243 Earth days, which is the longest day of any planet.

It's the hottest planet in the solar system, with a surface temperature of around 870°F (470°C). 

The northern hemisphere is displayed in this global view of the surface of Venus as seen by NASA Magellan spacecraft. 

This is a NASA Hubble Space Telescope ultraviolet-light image of the planet Venus, taken on January 24 1995, when Venus was at a distance of 70.6 million miles 113.6 million kilometers from Earth.

Venus has a thick atmosphere made up of mostly carbon dioxide and nitrogen gas.  It's similar in size, mass, and density to Earth

Its diameter is about 7,521 miles (12,104 kilometers). It exhibits phase changes similar to those of the Moon and Mercury.

Credit: NASA