According to a newly published paper Venus rotates because of its atmosphere and not its gravity. Not only will analyzing Venus help us better understand exoplanets, but it will also help us forecast how our planet's atmosphere and greenhouse gases will impact us in the years ahead.
Venus rotates slowly, taking 243 Earth days to finish one rotation, but this is quicker than one might expect for a planet so adjacent to our sun; Venus is in the tidal lock zone, which means it should not rotate whatsoever.
Whenever a smaller object, such as the moon around Earth or Mercury around the sun, rotates around a massive object without spinning, this is known as tidal locking. Venus is close enough to the sun to be tidally locked, but it rotates gradually instead.
Its incredibly thick atmosphere is the rational explanation it spins at all. Its powerful winds rip across the planet's surface, easing the planet's grip on the sun and allowing it to rotate, though somewhat slowly. Venus ...
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