Science
Venus' strange rotation was likely triggered by a high-velocity, moon-sized impactor
Key Points
Venus' bizarre and extraordinarily slow retrograde rotation on its axis has long puzzled planetary scientists. But in a new paper presented at the recent European Geosciences Union General Assembly in Vienna, the authors argue that their models indicate a high-angle, moon-sized, high-velocity impactor likely triggered Venus' strange 248-day rotation. And it probably happened within the first 50 million years of Venus' formation.
Venus' bizarre and extraordinarily slow retrograde rotation on its axis has long puzzled planetary scientists. But in a new paper presented at the recent European Geosciences Union General Assembly in Vienna, the authors argue that their models indicate a high-angle, moon-sized, high-velocity impactor likely triggered Venus' strange 248-day rotation. And it probably happened within the first 50 million years of Venus' formation.