Thick clouds in Venus’s atmosphere stop us from seeing the surface. Radar probes, such as Magellan, can peer through the clouds, revealing a planet dotted with volcanoes and covered with rolling lava plains.

Temperatures on Venus soar to over 860°F (460°C), making it hotter than any other planet. Its carbon dioxide atmosphere, which is 100 times heavier than Earth’s, traps heat like a greenhouse.