How far is Venus from the Sun?

Today, 10 October 2026, Venus is 108,607,285 km from the Sun — 0.109 billion kilometres, or 0.726 astronomical units. That figure changes constantly: the orbit is an ellipse, so Venus is closer at one end than the other.

What is Venus's average distance from the Sun?

0.723 AU — 0.108 billion km. This is the semi-major axis, which is the number most references quote as "the" distance. It is an average, and Venus is actually at it only twice per orbit.

What are Venus's closest and furthest distances?

Closest (perihelion) 0.718 AU or 0.107 billion km, next on 25 December 2026. Furthest (aphelion) 0.728 AU or 0.109 billion km, next on 17 April 2027. The difference between them is 1,455,778 km.

How long does sunlight take to reach Venus?

6.0 minutes at today's distance. Light from the Sun reaches Earth in about 8 minutes 20 seconds, so sunlight arrives at Venus roughly 0.7 times later than it reaches us.

Venus

Venus's distance from the Sun

Not the average everyone quotes — the figure for today, and the two extremes it swings between.

Right now

0.109 billion km

108,607,285 km · 0.726 AU · sunlight takes 6.0 minutes to get there

Computed 10 October 2026 and rebuilt through the day.

Closest to the Sun: 0.718 AU; 0.107 bn km · 25 December 2026
Furthest from the Sun: 0.728 AU; 0.109 bn km · 17 April 2027
Average: 0.723 AU; the figure most tables give
Orbital speed: 34.89 km/s; right now, from the ephemeris

Why there is no single answer

Venus’s orbit is an ellipse with the Sun at one focus rather than at the centre, so the distance changes continuously. Over one orbit it swings by 1,455,778 km — aphelion is 1.01 times further out than perihelion. At 0.0067 its orbit is very nearly a circle — draw it to scale and the difference from one would be thinner than the line.

That is why the number in an encyclopedia and the number here differ. Theirs is the semi-major axis, an average over the whole orbit; this one is where Venus is today. Both are correct, and they answer different questions.

Looking down on the plane of the ecliptic, traced from the ephemeris over one full orbit of 225 days. Earth’s orbit is the faint one, for scale. The Sun sits off the centre of the ellipse — that offset is the eccentricity, and it is why the two distances differ.

Where it is heading

Venus reaches perihelion — its closest approach to the Sun — on 25 December 2026, in 3 months, at 0.718 AU. It is currently 77% of the way from perihelion to aphelion, moving at 34.89 km/s.

Distance from Earth is a different question again, and a more variable one: today it is 0.303 AU, and it changes as both planets move. Venus right now carries that figure.

Common questions

How far is Venus from the Sun?: Today, 10 October 2026, Venus is 108,607,285 km from the Sun — 0.109 billion kilometres, or 0.726 astronomical units. That figure changes constantly: the orbit is an ellipse, so Venus is closer at one end than the other.
What is Venus's average distance from the Sun?: 0.723 AU — 0.108 billion km. This is the semi-major axis, which is the number most references quote as "the" distance. It is an average, and Venus is actually at it only twice per orbit.
What are Venus's closest and furthest distances?: Closest (perihelion) 0.718 AU or 0.107 billion km, next on 25 December 2026. Furthest (aphelion) 0.728 AU or 0.109 billion km, next on 17 April 2027. The difference between them is 1,455,778 km.
How long does sunlight take to reach Venus?: 6.0 minutes at today's distance. Light from the Sun reaches Earth in about 8 minutes 20 seconds, so sunlight arrives at Venus roughly 0.7 times later than it reaches us.

Positions from VSOP87 via Astronomy Engine, accurate to within one arcminute. Perihelion and aphelion are found by search rather than taken from a table, which is why the dates are exact and why the extremes differ slightly from one orbit to the next — the other planets pull on this one. See Venus’s orbit, Venus right now, or watch it move in the live simulation.