Venus, the second planet from the sun, is the hottest and brightest planet in the solar system. The scorching terrestrial (rocky) type planet is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty and is the only solar system planet named after a female when following the International Astronomical Union designation of names that the astronomy community uses as a convention. (Other cultures have different names for celestial locations.) Venus may have been named after the most beautiful deity of the Roman (and Greek) pantheons because it shone the brightest among the five planets known to ancient astronomers. In ancient Greek city-states, however, Venus was called Aphrodite.