Golden Globe

(Image credit: NASA/JPL)This look at Venus pastes mapping data from NASA's Magellan mission onto a computer-generated sphere.

Transit of Venus

(Image credit: NASA)In 2004, Venus passed across the face of the sun. June 5, 2012 is the last transit of Venus until 2117.

One of the first photographs of the transit of Venus 1882.

(Image credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Sun-Earth Day)One of the first photographs of the transit of Venus 1882.

President Obama Spots Venus and the Moon

(Image credit: whitehouse.gov)President Obama spotted Venus and the moon on April 24, 2012 at Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado. Venus was at peak brightness that week.

Colorful Venus

(Image credit: NASA/JPL/USGS)This composite image of Venus uses colors to represent the planet's topography.

Cloudy Venus

(Image credit: NASA)A thick blanket of clouds obscures Venus' surface. The Pioneer Venus orbiter snapped this image in 1979.

X-Ray Venus

(Image credit: Chandra X-ray Observatory)This image, taken in 2001 by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, was the first-ever view of Venus on the x-ray wavelength.

Venus Transit of Sun

(Image credit: Giovanni Paglioli, Centro Astronomico Neil Armstrong (Salerno))Giovanni Paglioli took this image on June 8, 2004 from Centro Astronomico Neil Armstrong in Salerno, Italy. The transit, or passage, of Venus across the face of the Sun is one of nature’s rarest celestial phenomena.

earthshine moon mercury venus

(Image credit: ESO/B. Tafreshi/TWAN)The crescent moon and earthshine over the European Southern Observatory's Paranal Observatory. This picture was taken on 27 October 2011 and also records the planets Mercury and Venus.

Venus Transit 2004 Wilce

(Image credit: Michael Wilce)Michael Wilce of Central London, UK took 20 composite shots to create this image of the Venus transit on June 8, 2004.

Mysterious Venus

(Image credit: Magellan/JPL/NASA)This image shows arachnoids on Venus. Don't panic -- we're not talking about alien spiders. Arachnoids are large, concentric oval structures on the planet's surface, surrounded by networks of fractures. Scientists aren't sure how these arachnoids originate.