Jerry Headen,age 12, of Winston  Salem, C. ,f or his question:

Why is Venus called the earth's twin?

Giant Jupiter, is big enough to swallow 300 earth sized planets and the earth is big enough to swallow many little Mercury sized planets. The two planets that are most alike in size are Earth and Venus. They are also close neighbors, which means that there is not a great deal of difference in the amount of light and heat they get from the sun.

Earth and Venus, however, are not identical twins. Venus is about 26 million miles closer to the sun and a little smaller than the earth. Earth is a little denser than Venus, and its gravity is a little stronger. An earth boy weighing 100 pounds, would weigh only 85 pounds on Venus.