Which planet in our solar system has the sun rising in the west and setting in the east?

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

💡 Need a hint?

This planet is known as the hottest of all and is named after a Roman goddess.

✅ View the answer

The correct answer is B. Venus rotates in the opposite direction (retrograde) on its axis. Whereas most planets rotate from west to east, Venus does exactly the reverse. On Venus, you would therefore see the sun rise in the west and set in the east.

📚 More background information

Venus is remarkable for more than one reason. Not only does the planet rotate the wrong way, it does so at an incredibly slow pace. A day on Venus lasts longer than a full year on Venus, because the planet takes more time to complete one rotation on its axis than to complete a full orbit around the sun. That is the kind of fact you have to read twice to let it sink in.

Then there is the heat. The thick atmosphere, largely carbon dioxide, traps heat in a way that far surpasses Mercury, even though that planet is much closer to the sun. Venus is therefore the hottest planet in our solar system.

Uranus, incidentally, is lying almost literally on its side. Strange, but strange in a different way from Venus. When a pub quiz question is about a completely reversed direction of rotation, Venus is the answer you want.