Illustration showing Venus's orbit of the Sun in relation to Earth's orbit. The plane of Venus's orbit is very close to that of Earth's, which is known as the ecliptic. Venus is the second planet from the Sun, with an average distance from it of 108 million kilometres. It takes nearly 225 days to orbit the Sun. Venus takes 243 days to rotate around its own axis. Unlike most planets in the solar system it rotates in a clockwise direction. Its axis of rotation is almost vertical to the plane of its orbit and so neither hemisphere is ever tilted towards the Sun, meaning that it does not experience seasons. The alignment of planets and the Sun is known as a conjunction. When the planets are on opposite sides of the Sun it is known as a superior conjunction and when both are on the same side, an inferior conjunction. For an unlabelled version of this image see C058/0998.