clockwise and counter clockwise
2007-02-07 08:42:58 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The initial gas in space (which will become a star) has got an angular momentum (everything you take in space got one, there is nothing that doesn't move).
As this momentum depends primarily of the radius, when the gas contracts under his own gravity, the conservation of the momentum make us see the rotating new star.
It's the same phenomenon as the ice skating dancer that rotates faster when his arms are closed to his body and slower when his arms are not.
2007-02-07 08:54:09 · answer #1 · answered by Scanie 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Initially, it depends on which way the accretion disc rotates around the parent star. The planets that are formed from this will rotate in the same direction as the disc. However, some phenomena can disrupt these rotations, either the axial or even the orbital ones. Venus, for example, is thought to have suffered a massive collision which flipped it upside-down, since its axial rotation is retrograde. Moons depend on whether they are natural or captured, and on the effect the parent planet's gravity has on them. Many captured moons have irregular or retrograde orbits and axial rotations (Saturn's moon Hyperion is an example).
2016-05-24 04:04:24 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
A star will inherit its spin from the gas cloud from which it condensed. Spin in the gas cloud is probably due to perturbations from nearby gravitational fields, shock waves from supernovae, or other outside influences. The rotational rate of the cloud will increase as the cloud condenses under the influence of its own gravity. This is due to conservation of angular momentum; the same effect that makes an ice skater's spin speed up when she pulls in her arms.
Whether the star's spin is clockwise or counterclockwise depends on what direction you look at it from.
2007-02-07 09:00:46 · answer #3 · answered by injanier 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
random chance ( since the direction is determined by the gas cloud that forms the star and it's density distribution) the interesting question is are there stars that don't rotate - ?
2007-02-07 08:52:24 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Combination of how the star came into being and the superior magnetic force around it
2007-02-07 08:48:35 · answer #5 · answered by paanbahar 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋