Space
Venus spins in the opposite direction to the other planets, which may have been caused by an ancient moon that orbited the planet backwards and then fell to the surface
By Leah Crane
Venus spins in the opposite direction to all of the other planets in the solar system
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Venus rotates in the opposite direction to the other planets in the solar system, and astronomers aren’t sure why – but it may have been caused by the drag of an ancient moon in a backwards orbit.
The early solar system was a chaotic place, with rocks hurtling around at extraordinary speeds. Valeri Makarov at the United States Naval Observatory in Washington DC and Alexey Goldin at Teza Technologies in Chicago performed a series…
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