The first theory is that Venus began its life spinning in the same direction as the other planets. But, like Uranus, it was hit by a large object, like a huge asteroid, perhaps even something the size of a planet, or perhaps it was hit many times over time. This impact knocked the planet all the way over and flipped its axis, causing it to spin in the other direction.
Another theory relates to the planet’s interior. Within rocky planets there can be boundaries of different parts of the interior which have different viscosities, such as the mantle (the part near the surface) and the core (the part right in the middle). As either of these two parts moves around, it rubs at the boundary between them, creating friction. This effect, called core-mantle friction, can gradually change the spin of a planet over time. Combine this with the fact that Venus has an extremely thick atmosphere — in fact the atmosphere shows an effect called superrotation where it rotates 60 times faster than the planet and is so thick that it might affect the length of a day there — and you have a recipe for how a planet could change the direction of its rotation.
Finally, there’s a more recent theory that says Venus also started out rotating the same as the other planets, but over time its rotation slowed right down until it almost stopped rotating all together. Then, it started rotating in the opposite direction. This is because its initial rotation was unstable, but rotation in the other direction was a more stable state, and it could explain why Venus rotates so slowly compared to other planets.
We still have a lot to learn about Venus, but with three missions heading there in the next few years, we should learn a lot more about this strange planet soon.
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