Planet Venus is Weird (spins backwards; day is longer than year)

“Fun Facts Saturday”

Venus Rotates Backwards

Planets generally rotate counter-clockwise (or “anti-clockwise” for you Brits). Venus is backward.  It rotates clockwise — the only planet to do so.

A Venus Day is Longer than a Venus Year

Venus travels around the Sun faster than the Earth.  Venus goes 78,337 miles per hour, while Earth goes only 66,615 mph. (The closer to the Sun, the faster a planet travels.) Venus takes 225 Earth days to orbit the Sun, whereas the Earth takes 365 days.

However, Venus rotates more slowly on its axis.  One rotation takes 243 Earth days.

So, a Venus day (243 Earth days) is longer than a Venus year (225 Earth days)

Venus is Super Windy

The clouds of Venus are in constant motion, traveling 224 mph. They circumnavigate the planet every four Earth days.

(“Venus,” NASA Solar System Exploration (.gov); “Venus,” “Orbit of Venus,” Wikipedia; “Why Venus rotates slowly,” Jules Bernstein, UC Riverside Magazine)

Images of Venus