Atmospheric super-rotation is a phenomenon where a planet's atmosphere rotates faster than the planet itself. This behavior is observed in the atmosphere of Venus, atmosphere of Titan, atmosphere of Jupiter, and atmosphere of Saturn. Notably, the atmosphere of Venus is a prominent case of extreme super-rotation; the Venusian atmosphere circles the planet in just four Earth days, much faster than Venus' sidereal day of 243 Earth days. Atmospheric super-rotation has also been observed on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, exhibiting large stratospheric zonal winds reaching a super-rotation ten times greater than its sidereal day of 16 Earth Days. Initial observations of Venus and Titan's super rotation were based on Earth-based observation, however, subsequent measurements confirmed this finding through the use of the Huygens probe.
Moreover, the visible cloud tops of Jupiter and Saturn provides further evidence on its deep atmospheric circulation demonstrating the presence of atmospheric super-rotation.
On Earth, there is a belief that its thermosphere has a slight net super-rotation exceeding the surface rotational velocity, although estimates of the size of the phenomenon vary widely. Some models suggest that global warming is likely to cause an increase in super-rotation in future, including possible change in surface winds patterns.