Is it possible to have a sunrise from the west instead of usual east,if yes how?

Question

would that change be short lived or permanent?

Answer 1

That is exactly what happens on Venus.

People on Venus have a day that is almost 117 earth-days long. Every 117 days, the sun rises in the west and moves slowly across the always-overcast sky, setting in the east 68 earth-days later.

This is caused by the fact that a year for Venus is only 225 earth-days long, but Venus takes 243 earth days to rotate on its axis relative to the stars, something the earth does in just 23 hours 56 minutes. Do the calculations, and a Venus day is 117 earth-days long, with the sun rising in the west and setting in the east.

Answer 2

If some how the Earth were to be spun in reverse then yes, the sun could rise from the west. There is a easier way to make this happen. Since mankind decided what to call the different directions just change the name. Sounds odd, well we change time twice a year already (day light savings time) so why not change what we call east and west?

Answer 3

Well, it IS possible to watch the sun RISE over the Pacific ocean and SET over the Atlantic ocean...but that's not because the earth changed rotation. Down in Central America, there's an S shaped piece of land near Panama that is something like the Ying-Yang symbol. So the cul-de-sac to the east holds the Pacific ocean, and the one to the west holds the Atlantic, and if you're in a spot on that middle piece of land, you can watch the sun rise in the morning over the Pacific, and set in the evening over the Atlantic. Tricky? Yes, but it is possible to catch someone on this question! LOL. but the rotation of the earth hasn't changed at all.

The Gremlin Guy

Answer 4

Yes!

All you must do is wait until after noon, at your location, and

voila!

As far as I can tell, if you wait until about 3 PM your time, sunlight from the West will pretty much always be available.

Now, if it's cloudy, the sunlight will still be there; you just won't see most of it.

Another possibility is to travel to a planet in our solar system that rotates clockwise (from a northern observation point)

In this case the sun, which"also rises" will rise in the Western sky! lol

Answer 5

The sun rises in the east because ot the direction of the earth's rotation. The amount of force required to change that would probably destroy the planet.

j

Answer 6

Well, not on Earth!
But if you were on a planet that its rotation was opposite Earth's rotation (that is clockwise instead of counter clockwise) then the Sun would rise from the west instead of east.

Answer 7

You can make it appear that the sun is rising in the west. Fly west in a high speed jet just after sunset. Travel fast enough, and 'catch up' to the sunset, and watch it 'rise' back over the horizon.

Answer 8

amazing answers

simple to do.

take a compass... put a tiny sticker that says S on the N and a sticker that says N on the S.

wait until sunrise...

use your new compass to see that the Sun did INDEED rise in the West!

Answer 9

It is not possible, unless the Earth's axis of rotation itself did a 180-degree rotation.

However, the Earth could not do this by itself, because it would violate conservation of angular momentum.

Answer 10

Just reverse the rotation of the earth. I don't suppose that it would be permanent...if you could reverse rotation once, I supposed you would just change it back the same way.