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Revolution and Rotation of the Planets

 

Revolution is about the movement of one body around another, whereas rotation is about the movement of a body around its axis. For example, the Moon revolves around the Earth and the Earth revolves around the Sun. Also, the Earth rotates around its axis.

 

All the planets in the solar system rotates either in clockwise or anticlockwise directions. Many of these planets rotates into anticlockwise direction. All the planets revolve around the sun in the same direction and in virtually the same plane. Additionally, all the planets rotate in the same general direction, with the exceptions of Venus and Uranus.

 

Venus rotates in the clockwise direction. Venus takes 243 Earth days to complete the rotation whereas it takes 224.7 Earth days to complete one orbit around the Sun (i.e. revolution).

 

Uranus lies at a 90-degree angle to the north/south poles, causing it to revolve on its side instead of its axis. If the planet were to right itself, it would revolve in a west-to-east direction, or anticlockwise.

 

Earth takes approximately 365.25 days to complete one revolution around the Sun and 24 hours to complete one rotation around its axis. Earth rotates about its axis at approximately 15 angular degrees per hour. The concept of Day and Night exists due to the rotation of the Earth.

 

In our solar system, the giant gas planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) rotate faster than the inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars). The sun itself rotates very slowly, once a month. In addition to this, the solar system is also moving with the Milky Way galaxy and revolving around the galactic core.

 

Details about the time taken by different planets for Rotation and Revolution:

 

       Planets                  Period of Revolution          Period of Rotation

1. Mercury                 88 days                                59 days
2. Venus                    224.7 days                           243 days
3. Earth                      365.2 days                           23 hr 56 min 4 sec
4. Mars                      687 days                               24 hr 37 min
5. Jupiter                  11.86 years                           9 hr 55 min 30 sec
6. Saturn                   29.46 years                          10 hr 40 min 24 sec
7. Uranus                  84 years                                16.8 hours
8. Neptune               165 years                              16 hr 11 min