Solar system · Planet
Planet
Venus
The brightest thing in the sky after the Sun and Moon — the morning and evening star, often mistaken for a UFO.
Discovery
In 1610 Galileo saw that Venus shows phases like the Moon — full when far away, a crescent when close. It could only be orbiting the Sun.
Science
Under its clouds the surface is hot enough to melt lead, at about 465 °C, crushed by an atmosphere 90 times as heavy as ours.