In the grand scheme of the solar system, Venus and Earth are almost the same distance from the sun. Yet the planets differ dramatically: Venus is some 100 times hotter than Earth and its days more than 200 times longer. The atmosphere on Venus is so thick that the longest any spacecraft has survived on its surface before being crushed is a little over two hours. There's another difference, too. Earth has a magnetic field and Venus does not -- a crucial distinction when assessing the effects of the sun on each planet.
Lightning sprites are out-of-this-world: 'sprites' predicted in atmospheres of Jupiter, Saturn and Venus
