• A. Mars
  • B. Venus
  • C. Jupiter
  • D. Saturn

💡 Need a hint?

This planet is known as the hottest in our solar system and is often visible as a bright ‘star’ in the morning or evening sky.

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The correct answer is B. Venus rotates in the opposite direction compared to most other planets, a phenomenon known as retrograde rotation. On Venus, the sun would therefore rise in the west and set in the east.

📚 More background information

Venus is actually quite bizarre when you stop to think about it. Not only does the planet rotate backwards, it also does so so slowly that one day on Venus is longer than one full year on Venus. That’s not a typo.

And there’s this: Venus has the slowest rotation of all the planets in the solar system, and scientists still don’t fully agree on why. The two most commonly cited causes are a massive collision early in the history of our solar system, and the influence of its exceptionally heavy, dense atmosphere. Most likely a combination of both, but a definitive answer doesn’t exist. That kind of open question about a planet we’ve been able to observe for centuries does say something about how little we actually know about the planet closest to us.

Venus is also the hottest planet, with surface temperatures high enough to melt lead. That has nothing to do with its distance from the sun, but everything to do with the greenhouse effect of its thick carbon dioxide atmosphere. Mars is further away and considerably colder.

At pub quizzes, most people guess Mars or Jupiter. Venus, the quiet neighbouring planet, is the odd one out.