Video companion · Worlds Gone Wrong

Why the Sun Can Rise Twice on Mercury

Name: Why the Sun Can Rise Twice on Mercury
Uploaded: 2026-06-18
Duration: 1 min 12 s
Channel: Rick Wood
Description: A 3:2 spin-orbit resonance and an eccentric orbit create the Solar System’s strangest sunrise.

Mercury can make the Sun stop, reverse, set, and rise again in the same morning.

1:12Published June 18, 2026Hosted by Rick Wood

Watch this video on YouTube Subscribe on YouTube

What you’ll discover

What 3:2 resonance means
Why Mercury speeds up near perihelion
Where the apparent reversal comes from

Further reading