Venus was the Roman goddess of love and beauty and this planet was given this name because of its brightness and beauty in the night sky (it is the brightest object in the sky after the Sun and the Moon). Venus is the second planet from the Sun in the Solar System and the nearest planet to Earth. Deep poisonous clouds trap the heat from the Sun and cover a mountainous surface of extinct volcanoes and lava flows. Temperatures on Venus are the hottest on any planet in the Solar System, and standing on the planet's surface would crush you!