Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2025 September 14 IFRAME: [2]https://www.youtube.com/embed/my1euFQHH-o?rel=0 Planets of the Solar System: Tilts and Spins Video Credit: [3]NASA, Animation: [4]James O'Donoghue ([5]U. Reading) Explanation: How does your favorite planet spin? Does it spin rapidly around a nearly vertical axis, or horizontally, or backwards? The [6]featured video animates [7]NASA images of [8]all eight planets in [9]our Solar System to show them [10]spinning side-by-side for an easy comparison. In the [11]time-lapse video, a day on Earth -- one Earth rotation -- takes just a few seconds. [12]Jupiter rotates the fastest, while [13]Venus spins not only the slowest (can you see it?), but backwards. The inner rocky planets across the top underwent [14]dramatic spin-altering collisions during the early days of the Solar System. Why planets spin and tilt as they do remains a [15]topic of research with much insight gained from modern [16]computer modeling and the recent discovery and analysis of hundreds of [17]exoplanets: planets [18]orbiting other stars. Tomorrow's picture: sun belch __________________________________________________________________ [19]< | [20]Archive | [21]Submissions | [22]Index | [23]Search | [24]Calendar | [25]RSS | [26]Education | [27]About APOD | [28]Discuss | [29]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [30]Robert Nemiroff ([31]MTU) & [32]Jerry Bonnell ([33]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [34]Specific rights apply. [35]NASA Web Privacy, [36]Accessibility, [37]Notices; A service of: [38]ASD at [39]NASA / [40]GSFC, [41]NASA Science Activation & [42]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://www.youtube.com/embed/my1euFQHH-o?rel=0 3. https://www.nasa.gov/ 4. https://bsky.app/profile/interplanetary.bsky.social 5. https://www.reading.ac.uk/meteorology/ 6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my1euFQHH-o 7. https://www.nasa.gov/ 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060828.html 9. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/solar-system-facts/ 10. https://youtu.be/qhJrpzsKEXo 11. https://www.youtube.com/embed/my1euFQHH-o 12. https://science.nasa.gov/jupiter/ 13. https://science.nasa.gov/venus/ 14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEIGjXbtQwY 15. http://allwallps.com/bin/02/54/72a.jpg 16. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001Natur.411..767C/abstract 17. https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/ 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap151205.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250913.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 23. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 25. https://apod.com/feed.rss 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 28. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250914 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250915.html 30. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 31. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 32. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 33. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 35. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 36. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 37. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 38. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 39. https://www.nasa.gov/ 40. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 41. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 42. http://www.mtu.edu/