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|text='''[[Venus]]''' ({{pron-en|ˈviːnəs}}) is the second-closest [[planet]] to the [[Sun]], orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. It is the brightest natural object in the night sky, except for the [[Moon]], reaching an [[apparent magnitude]] of −4.6. Because Venus is an [[inferior planet]], from [[Earth]] it never appears to venture far from the Sun: its [[elongation]] reaches a maximum of 47.8°. Venus reaches its maximum brightness shortly before sunrise or shortly after sunset, for which reason it is often called the ''Morning Star'' or the ''Evening Star''.
Classified as a [[terrestrial planet]], it is sometimes called Earth's "sister planet", for the two are similar in size, gravity, and bulk composition. Venus is covered with an opaque layer of highly reflective [[cloud]]s of carbon dioxide, preventing its surface from being seen from space in [[visible light]]; this was a subject of great speculation until some of its secrets were revealed by [[planetary science]] in the twentieth century. Venus has the densest [[atmosphere]] of all the terrestrial planets, consisting mostly of [[carbon dioxide]]. The [[atmospheric pressure]] at the planet's surface is 90 times that of the Earth.
