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Venus has a very small axial tilt -- 3° versus Earth's 23.5°. Its dense, acidic atmosphere produces a runaway greenhouse effect that keeps the surface at 750°K year-round, which is hot enough to melt lead. Venus also has a very small orbit, which makes its seasons shorter, and variations in temperature and conditions extremely slight. Its seasons last a mere 55-58 days, as opposed to 90-93 days on Earth. When the Magellan spacecraft made its historic dramatic final descent into Venus' fiery atmosphere on October 11, 1994, it was springtime on Venus, while in the peak of autumn here on Earth.