the way venus orbits?
373605
Although all planets' orbits are elliptical, Venus's orbit is the closest to circular, with an eccentricity of less than 1%.\n\nalso...\n\nOrbital characteristics (Epoch J2000) \nSemi-major axis 108,208,926 km\n0.723 331 99 AU \nOrbital circumference 0.680 Tm\n4.545 AU \nEccentricity 0.006 773 23 \nPerihelion 107,476,002 km\n0.718 432 70 AU \nAphelion 108,941,849 km\n0.728 231 28 AU \nOrbital period 224.700 69 d\n(0.615 197 0 a) \nSynodic period 583.92 d \nAvg. orbital speed 35.020 km/s \nMax. orbital speed 35.259 km/s \nMin. orbital speed 34.784 km/s \nInclination 3.394 71°\n(3.86° to Sun's equator) \nLongitude of the\nascending node 76.680 69° \nArgument of the\nperihelion 54.852 29° \nNumber of satellites 0
396171
If you are on the same planet that I am, yes!\n\nThe earth rotates counterclockwise on its axis. Therefore the sun will always "rise" in the east. The reason I put rise in quotes...b/c the sun doesn't actually rise. It is from our perspective that it seems to rise.\n\nThe only way you will see the sun rise in the west...\n1. you are on Venus (clockwise rotation)\n2. a major astroid strikes earth & changes earth's rotation so that it goes clockwise. But the problem here is that your chances of still being around to see it is nil.\n\nAlso, all the planets in our solar system have a counterclockwise revolution path around the sun.
16804
It's the planet Venus.\nMore about it at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/28nov_venusshadows.htm
999388
Mercury doesn't really show retrograde motion.  What happens is that it rises so far up into the sky and then begins to drop.  During conjunctions, it will then switch from being an evening star to a morning star or vice versa.  Venus does the same thing.  They do this because their orbits are inside the earth's orbit.  Mars would be the closest planet to show retrograde motion.
338419
First, all planets in our solar system are tilted, although Mercury isn't tilted much.  And yes, this is what causes seasons.\n\nWe can observe seasonal changes (growing and shrinking of polar ice caps and the dust storms they seem to induce) on Mars.  I believe Neptune also has very strange seasons that we don't know much about.\n\nOn a bigger, gaseous planet like Jupiter though, although it tilts we wont see much in the way of seasons because it's atmosphere is affected by many other things that make it turbulent as is.\n\nIn the case of Venus, it has such a wild greenhouse effect (and might be close to being perfectly upside down, I can't recall) that I don't think we will see much in the way of seasons there either.
589353
Neptunes axis spins counter clockwise. the rest also do the same except three of them; venus:clockwise, Uranus: rotates on side, Pluto: rotates down
378554
Yup, one of the better theories right now is that Venus formed the "normal" way, but then turned over during the course of the evolution of the solar system.  The obliquity (tilt angle of each planet) can be effected by the orbits of all the other planets.  If you work the calculations you will find that Venus could have a dramatic change in it's obliquity over the course of time.\n\nIf you assume that Venus formed with the same type of tilt shown by the other inner worlds you can quickly show that the effects of the other planets will drive the tilt of Venus into a chaotic zone, where the tilt will rapidly change in an almost unpredictable manner (almost).  One way out of this unstable zone is if Venus were to turn all the way over, upside down (obliquity exceeds 180 degrees).  By doing so it would make Venus appear to have a spin opposite from the rest of the planets.\n\nThere are some issues with this theory, one of them is that Venus, while it does spin "backwards" also spins very slowly.  This is also hard to explain, but people have tried to change the rotation rate of venus through impacts, or near impacts with large, planetesimal-sized objects.  It may possible to help drive venus' tilt over with this method also.
9670
You're probably seeing Venus and not a star. It usually rises or sets within hours of the Sun. If it doesn't "twinkle" it's a planet. Would be easier to tell you if you could report your latitude, time zone and time of observation aswell.
542914
There are two ways to answer your question - \n\nThe orbit of Venus is closest to the orbit of Earth.\n\nHowever, depending on the current positions of the planets in their relative orbits... Mars or Mercury could be closest to Earth.\n\nToday, it appears that Venus is the closest planet.\n\nTwo months from now, Mercury will be the closest planet to Earth.\n\nSee the attached link for a pretty nifty orbit simulator from the NASA /JPL website.
472607
planets orbit stars, satellites orbit planets
987221
I'm not entirely sure I understand your question.\n\nIf Venus acquired a moon, that moon's effect on the Earth would be negligible.  The moon might be visible through a telescope but it seems unlikely the morning star aka evening star aka Venus would appear as a double.\n\nWith respect to Venus, the acquisition of a moon would likely have an affect on most of the aspects you mention.  The gravitational pull of our moon is responsible for the tides here; a similar phenomena might be observed on Venus with respect to its extremely thick atmosphere.  \n\nThe mere presence of a moon is unlikely to change the chemical composition of the atmosphere.  However, Venus is geologically active (over 1600 volcanoes dot the surface of the planet) and the gravitational pull of a new moon might create different tectonic stresses.  In turn, this could encourage/discourage volcanic activity which would, indirectly, change the atmospheric mix.\n\nIf Venus were to acquire a moon, it would influence rotation/length of day but probably not a lot.  However, celestial mechanics was never my strong suit....
428000
It could be a planet or a satellite or some other celestial body. Venus is particularly bright.
224788
Orbital obliquity is probably influenced by the sun in some way during the time when the planets were forming, but I don't think we have any solid idea exactly what factors were involved.  It's clear that most of the planets' axis are more or less vertical, though Venus in fact rotates the opposite way (so its obliquity is considered to be nearly 180 degrees).  The big exception is Neptune, which is nearly lying on its side.\n\nIf the Earth was similarly lying on its side as you suggest, then yes, it could spin the same and have light and dark "sides" that only change as it moves around the Sun.  See Neptune for details of this exact mechanism.
413916
Well there are alot of theories about why this occurs, however until we actually send some probes there to test the theories and find the right one, we are basically just making guesses. But probably the fact that Venus has a very slow rotational period which does not produce the dynamo effect is the reason. More about the magnetic field of Venus is here\nhttp://www-spc.igpp.ucla.edu/personnel/russell/papers/venus_mag/\n\nMercury probably still has a bit of a molten core\nhttp://www-spc.igpp.ucla.edu/personnel/russell/papers/merc_mag/\n\nBasically the theories don't explain everything we observe,\nDoes this mean the theories or science are wrong? No, it just probably means we are not taking everything into account. And that we have missed something. This is what makes science so interesting. We find discrepancies and we have to discover the reason. So we think about it, come up with new or modified theories, and then design tests to determine which are correct. This is what science is all about. Here is another website I found that explains a bit about it, enjoy.\nhttp://www.astronomynotes.com/solarsys/s7.htm
650343
Venus is the second planet from the sun, and is similar in size to earth. It is the hottest planet in the solar system (despite Mercury being closer to the sun) because of the greenhouse effect of its thick Carbon Dioxide atmosphere. Venus spins in the opposite direction to the other planets (known as retrograde motion) and spins so slowly that the time taken to spin (a day) is much longer than the time taken to orbit the sun (year). It has a daytime temperature of 475 degrees C (enough to make things glow red), constant volcanic activity, and sulphuric acid rain (which evaporates before it hits the ground due to the high temperature). Venus is completely covered in cloud, and its hellish conditions were only discovered when spacecraft travelled there, as there was no other way of seeing through to the surface.
479537
Hi! Venus in the sky is an amazing sight! Being an inner planet of the solar system, Venus is only visible for a few minutes either just before sunrise or just after sunset.\n\nThe best time to view the planet is before sunrise. You will be able to observe Venus in the east. Check your local newspaper for the timings of the sunrise. Preferably, go to a place at high elevation so that Venus is not obscured by any high buildings there may be.\n\nHope you have a good sighting of the morning star soon!
479177
Venus could be thought of as simply upside down. Something might have knocked it over. Current thinking in the field says that Venus was hit with a "mini planet" during formation and violently knocked over. Uranus might have suffered a similar blow (it is rotating perpendicular to the solar system, rolling on it's side). Crater evidence supports the existence of large mini-planets in the early days of our solar system. Some of these are the moons of the outer planets. Our own moon may be the result of such a collision with earth that flung material into orbit (everything may have been molten at this time). No one knows for sure. Venus also has a 3:2 rotational period with earth's orbit with the sun. Some think that this is due to a tidal resonance. Mercury also has a 3:2 proportion day to year. This resonance may also cause a wobble (earth wobbles due to the moon's tidal resonance), but it is unlikely this was strong enough to cause Venus's retrograde rotation.