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Universe of the Hubble Space Telescope 2000 Calendar

Venus is the second planet from the Sun. The atmosphere of Venus is made up of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, water, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, and hydrofluoric acid. The thick clouds that cover the surface of Venus are made up of droplets of sulfuric acid and microscopic crystals of sulfur. This ultraviolet-light image of Venus was obtained on January 25, 1995, when the planet was 70.6 million miles (113.6 million kilometers) from Earth. The image shows features and patterns in the clouds that cannot be seen in visible light. Because its orbit is interior to Earth's orbit, Venus exhibits phases similar to the phases of the Moon.