Venus is the second planet from the Sun, named after the Roman goddessVenus. It is a terrestrial planet, very similar in size and bulk composition to Earth; it is sometimes called Earth's "sister planet" as a result of this similarity. Although all planets' orbits are elliptical, Venus' orbit is the most nearly circular of all, with an eccentricity of less than 1%. Venus was known to ancient Babylonians around 1600 BC, and probably was known long before in prehistoric times given that it is the third brightest object in the sky after the Sun and Moon. Its symbol is a stylized representation of the goddess Venus' hand mirror: a circle with a small cross underneath (Unicode: ♀). (more...)
