How quickly does the upper atmosphere of Venus circle the planet in a phenomenon called super-rotation?
Answer
In just about four Earth days.
The upper atmosphere of Venus exhibits a phenomenon known as super-rotation, where the atmospheric gases circle the planet significantly faster than the solid surface rotates. While the surface takes a sluggish 243 Earth days to complete one rotation, the atmosphere completes a full circuit in roughly four Earth days. This rapid atmospheric flow dominates the surface-level conditions, moving hundreds of times faster than the sluggish body rotation. This speed difference means that the rotation of the solid planet has a greatly muted influence, via the Coriolis effect, on the overall weather patterns compared to the swift movement of the gases above.
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