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Its to do with the planets progression around the sun in that time. A planets rotation is often expressed in terms of how long it takes to revolve once on its axis relative to the fixed background stars (sidreal rotation period). But during this time, the earth (or other planet) has moved around the sun a little. This progression means that the angles have changed, the earth has to rotate just that little bit more for the sun to appear in the same place as it did the day before. So for Earth and most other planets, a solar or apparent day is slightly longer than its sidereal rotation period.

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Q: Why is the solar day not equal in time to the period of exactly one rotation of the earth about its axis?
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Related questions

How long does one rotation on it axis take for venus?

The rotation period of Venus is equal to about 243.02 Earth days.


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