79 Venus Trivia Questions with Answers
79 public questions with answers, drawn from the well. How many can you answer?
Venus trivia covers the second planet from the Sun, from its unusual rotation and long orbital period to the spacecraft that have explored its cloud-shrouded surface. Questions examine features named for goddesses, including the equatorial highland Aphrodite Terra, as well as Maxwell Montes, named after physicist James Clerk Maxwell.
The collection also highlights memorable missions such as the Soviet Venera 7 lander, which transmitted from the surface in 1970, and Japan’s Akatsuki orbiter, whose name means “dawn.” It is a strong fit for astronomy students, classroom review, science-themed game nights, and pub quizzes that reach beyond basic planet facts.
What is Venus's orbital period around the Sun, in Earth days?
Answer
224.7 days
Venus is the second planet from which star?
Answer
Sun
Which Venusian mountain range is named after physicist James Clerk Maxwell?
Answer
Maxwell Montes
Which Soviet orbiters first identified Venusian coronae with radar images in 1983?
Answer
Venera 15 and 16
What is the largest corona on Venus?
Answer
Artemis Corona
Which NASA spacecraft used a Venus flyby to reach Mercury in 1974?
Answer
Mariner 10
Maat Mons is located in which Venusian region?
Answer
Atla Regio
What is Venus's axial tilt, measured in degrees?
Answer
177.36 degrees
What is Venus's average orbital speed around the Sun?
Answer
35.02 km/s
What is Venus's orbital inclination to the ecliptic?
Answer
3.39 degrees
What is Venus's mean density in grams per cubic centimeter?
Answer
5.24 g/cm3
What is Venus's mean radius in kilometers?
Answer
6051.8 km
Which museum houses the Venus de Milo?
Answer
Louvre Museum
Which Roman god is the husband of Venus in many myths?
Answer
Vulcan
Which Renaissance painter created The Birth of Venus?
Answer
Sandro Botticelli
What is the astronomical symbol for Venus commonly called?
Answer
Female sign
What is the second most abundant gas in Venus's atmosphere?
Answer
Nitrogen
Which Soviet mission pair deployed balloons in Venus's atmosphere in 1985?
Answer
Vega 1 and Vega 2
Which NASA mission dropped four probes into Venus's atmosphere in 1978?
Answer
Pioneer Venus Multiprobe
Which Venus highland region contains Maxwell Montes?
Answer
Ishtar Terra
Which Venus highland is the largest on the planet?
Answer
Aphrodite Terra
What is Venus's orbital eccentricity approximately?
Answer
0.007
What type of magnetic field is produced around Venus by the solar wind?
Answer
induced magnetic field
Venus's mass is about what fraction of Earth's mass?
Answer
0.815 Earths
Because it orbits inside Earth's orbit, Venus is classed as what type of planet?
Answer
inferior planet
Who first recorded telescopic observations of the phases of Venus in 1610?
Answer
Galileo Galilei
About how many Earth days does Venus take to orbit the Sun?
Answer
225 days
On Venus, the Sun rises in which direction?
Answer
west
The planet Venus is named for the Roman goddess of what?
Answer
love and beauty
Venus is which planet from the Sun?
Answer
second
What is the term for Venus's atmosphere rotating faster than its surface?
Answer
super-rotation
What is the escape velocity on Venus in kilometers per second?
Answer
10.36 km/s
Venus trivia — quick answers
What are good Venus trivia questions?
Good Venus questions explore its orbit, rotation, atmosphere, surface features, exploration missions, and naming conventions. Examples include asking what Akatsuki means, which way Venus rotates, which IAU theme names most surface features, and identifying the mountain range called Maxwell Montes.
How hard is Venus trivia?
Venus trivia ranges from easy to challenging. Identifying Venus as the second planet is straightforward, but questions about Soviet landers, IAU naming themes, orbital timing, and named highlands require stronger astronomy knowledge. The topic works well for mixed-difficulty classroom quizzes and science game nights.
How long is a year on Venus?
Venus completes one orbit around the Sun in about 224.7 Earth days. This is its Venusian year. Its rotation is much slower: one sidereal rotation takes about 243 Earth days, meaning Venus takes longer to spin once on its axis than to complete an orbit around the Sun.
Which way does Venus rotate?
Venus rotates retrograde, meaning it spins in the opposite direction to the direction used by most planets in the Solar System. As a result, the Sun would appear to rise in the west and set in the east for an observer on Venus, although the planet’s dense atmosphere and extreme surface conditions make direct observation difficult.
What does the name Akatsuki mean?
Akatsuki is a Japanese word meaning “dawn.” It is the name of Japan’s Venus Climate Orbiter, launched in 2010 and later placed into orbit around Venus in 2015 after an initial insertion attempt failed. The spacecraft studies Venus’s atmosphere, weather patterns, clouds, and atmospheric circulation.