A Day on Venus is Longer Than Its Year
Space is full of strange things, but Venus might be one of the weirdest. In our solar system, Venus is the only planet where you could celebrate your birthday before the day is even over!
The Slowest Spinner
To understand this, we have to look at two different movements. A "day" is how long it takes a planet to spin around once. A "year" is how long it takes to fly in a big circle around the Sun. Earth is fast - it spins in 24 hours. But Venus is a very slow spinner. It takes about 243 Earth days just to turn around one time.
A Fast Traveler
While Venus is super slow at spinning, it is quite fast at traveling through space. It only takes about 225 Earth days for Venus to finish its entire trip around the Sun. Because 243 is bigger than 225, a day on Venus is actually longer than its whole year!
Backwards and Upside Down
Not only is Venus slow, but it also spins in the wrong direction. On Earth, the Sun rises in the East. But if you were standing on Venus, the Sun would rise in the West. Because of this backwards spin and its slow movement, the time from one sunrise to the next (a solar day) is actually 117 Earth days. It is still a very, very long wait for breakfast!
In Short
Venus spins so slowly that it completes a full orbit around the Sun before it finishes one single rotation on its axis. This means its "day" lasts longer than its "year." It's a place where time works in the most confusing way possible!