fact about Venus

1. A day on Venus is longer than a year It takes Venus longer to rotate once on its axis than to complete one orbit of the Sun. That’s 243 Earth days to rotate once - the longest rotation of any planet in the Solar System - and only 224.7 Earth days to complete one orbit of the Sun. 2. Venus is hotter than Mercury despite being further away from the Sun Its mean temperature is 462°C. This is because of the high concentration of carbon dioxide in Venus’ atmosphere which works to produce an intense greenhouse effect, trapping heat in the atmosphere like a blanket and causing the temperature of the planet to be much higher than its proximity to the Sun would suggest. 3. Unlike the other planets in our solar system, Venus spins clockwise on its axis. All other planets spin anti-clockwise on their axis and orbit the Sun in an anti-clockwise direction. Venus also orbits the Sun anti-clockwise, but its unusual axis rotation is due to being upside down - it was knocked off its upright position earlier in its history! Astronomers believe that at some point, a colliding celestial body tilted Venus so far off its original position that it is now upside down. The only other planet to spin in a weird direction is Uranus which spins on its side, probably the result of another collision early on in its life.