A team of astronomers from Japan’s Institute of Space and Astronautical Science revealed that this ‘super-rotation’ is sustained near the equator by atmospheric tidal waves developed from solar heating on the planet’s dayside and freezing on its nightside. Astronomers developed a new, highly well-defined system to trace clouds and determine wind velocities from pictures provided by ultraviolet and infrared cameras on the Akatsuki probe. Astronomers think their research could help better explain atmospheric systems on tidally-locked exoplanets whose one side is always facing the central stars, which is comparable to Venus having a very long solar day.