The planet pictured is Venus. On this date, Venus is at its brightest point in the sky. Venus is the second planet away from the sun. Venus is named after the Roman goddess of beauty and love. In ancient times, Venus was once thought to be the morning and evening star. Venus and Earth are very similar in size, composition, and gravity. Venus is the hottest planet. Venus' atmosphere is primarily carbon dioxide with clouds on sulfuric acid. The rays from the sun leaves no trace of water on Venus' surface, but the rays have left the surface of Venus in a molten-like state. Venus is very mountainous and made up of six different regions. Venus rotates on an opposite way of most planets. It takes Venus around 243 days to rotate on its axis. 

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/venus