> Which celestial object used to be known as both the morning star and the eveningstar?And the answer: Venus. As the second planet from the sun, Venus passes closer to Earth than any otherplanet. From Earth, it's one of the brightest objects in the sky. In the 5thcentury BCE, the Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras was the first torealize that this bright object in the morning and the evening was the sameobject. Photo credit: Dale Osadchuk via crystalwind.ca[http://www.crystalwind.ca/astrology-by-dale/venus-morning-star].Unlike mostother planets in our solar system, Venus orbits on a very similar path to Earth.No planet approaches closer to our planet than Venus, and because of itsproximity to the Sun, it is often seen in the same direction during the hours ofsunrise or sunset. For this reason, the Ancient Greeks and Egyptians perceivedVenus to be two separate celestial objects (and thanks to Venus' luminosity,they thought it was a star – hence the name). Venus was one of the five planets known in ancient times, alongside Mercury,Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. In fact, the name "Venus" comes from the Roman goddessof love and beauty (perhaps more familiarly known to us as Aphrodite in Greekmythology).Despite earning the common perception as "Earth's twin," the two could not bemore different. Yes, they are of a remarkably similar size – all the way down tonearly equal planet density – but Venus is an incredibly hot planet incapable ofhosting life. At a surface temperature of 900 °F (482 °C), the pressure of itscarbon dioxide atmosphere is 95 times that of Earth’s atmosphere, and its cloudsare made of sulfuric acid. Recent studies interrogate just how it could bepossible for two neighboring, similarly sized planets to be so intenselydifferent. Learn more about Venus here[https://www.britannica.com/list/5-weird-facts-about-venus ].