✦ The Spark
Venus rotates backwards compared to almost every other planet — so on Venus, the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east.
The Story
If you could stand on Venus and watch the sky, everything would feel wrong. The Sun would rise from the direction we call west, arc slowly across the sky, and set in the east. It takes 243 Earth days to complete one rotation — longer than its 225-day year.
Scientists believe Venus was hit by a massive object billions of years ago, so powerful it flipped the planet's rotation. Since then, Venus has been spinning in the opposite direction to most planets, at a pace so slow that a single day outlasts an entire trip around the Sun.
This makes Venus unique in the solar system: the only planet where your birthday could arrive before tomorrow's sunrise. The dense atmosphere also traps heat so effectively that Venus is hotter than Mercury, despite being twice as far from the Sun.
Make Your Prediction
On Venus, which direction does the Sun rise?
Pick your answer to reveal the explanation.
Today's Challenge
Tonight face west at sunset. Watch the Sun go down. Now imagine that's where it would rise tomorrow if you lived on Venus. Try to feel what that disorientation would be like.
Talk About It
If a day is longer than a year on Venus, how would you celebrate your birthday?
Why do you think most planets spin in the same direction, but Venus doesn't?
If we colonised Venus, would we change our clocks? Or invent a new calendar?
Go Deeper
Uranus also has a weird rotation — it spins on its side at a 98° tilt, meaning its poles experience 42 years of sunlight followed by 42 years of darkness. Both anomalies are thought to be caused by ancient planetary collisions.
Big Debate
If we found a planet identical to Earth but where the Sun rose in the west, should we call it Earth or give it a different name? What makes a planet "Earth-like"?