Venus is the only planet in our solar system that rotates clockwise on its axis—a motion known as retrograde rotation. When viewed from above the Sun's north pole, it spins in the opposite direction to every other planet, causing the Sun to appear to rise in the west and set in the east. Its rotation is also extremely slow—one day on Venus lasts longer than an entire Venusian year. Scientists believe this backward and sluggish spin may have resulted from a massive collision or series of impacts early in the planet's history that disrupted its original rotation and reshaped its evolution.
