This reverse rotation has a name: retrograde rotation. Scientists suspect that a massive collision in the distant past flipped Venus’s rotation, though other theories are also in circulation.

There is something else peculiar about Venus: the planet rotates so slowly on its own axis that one day there lasts longer than one year. Venus completes a full orbit around the sun faster than it completes a single rotation on its own axis. Imagine it getting dark before the calendar has turned a single page. And as if that weren’t enough, a thick layer of clouds retains heat so effectively that Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system, even though Mercury is closer to the sun. That last fact surprises many people, which is precisely why this question goes down well at a pub quiz, though some quizmasters may find it just a touch too easy.

Too easy? That’s a discussion for after the final round.