Venus

Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. As the second-brightest natural object in the night sky after the Luna, Venus can cast shadows and, rarely, is visible to the naked eye in broad daylight.

Venus is similar to Earth in size, density and position relative to the sun. However, its dense carbon dioxide atmosphere (over 90 times the pressure at sea level on Earth) and high surface temperatures (460C) make it one of the most inhospitable planets in the solar system. Sulphurous compounds are extremely abundant and observation of the atmosphere indicates that a dense layer of sulphuric acid particles lies between 50-80km from the surface. This witches' brew of gases is lit by continuous lightning storms and stirred by powerful winds (they aren't very fast, but the immense pressure and density give them enormous force). Such conditions have ground the terrain down to a series of rolling plains broken by the rare volcano, of which Maxwell Montes (aprox. 12km high) appears to be the biggest.