This is one of the most commonly misunderstood facts in astronomy. Most textbooks say Venus is nearest to Earth — but modern research gives a surprising answer.
Venus is the brightest object in the night sky after the Moon. It is visible to the naked eye and is often called the 'Evening Star' or 'Morning Star'.
Venus is traditionally called the nearest planet to Earth.
A 2019 study in Physics Today journal showed that when you calculate the time-averaged distance (average distance over their entire orbits), Mercury is actually the closest planet to Earth — and to every other planet!
Why? Mercury orbits very close to the Sun and very fast. So it spends the most time close to Earth on average — whereas Venus, being farther from the Sun, spends more of its orbit on the far side away from Earth.
For Indian school board exams (CBSE, NCERT), the expected answer is:
Write this in exams unless specifically asked about 'time-averaged distance'.
Neptune is currently the farthest planet from Earth (since Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006). At its maximum distance, Neptune is about 4.7 billion km from Earth.
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