You would expect an infant solar system to have a non-zero angular momentum initially. So you would expect on average that most bodies inside the rotating mass would tend to be rotating in one direction rather than another. If any two bodies are rotating in opposite senses, then they are more likely to collide. If this process of random collisions were to repeat over a large period of time, then you would expect the bodies which rotate in the consensus sense to overwhelm the minority ones by attrition. Hence you would expect eventually to see almost all the bodies in a solar system or galaxy to be rotating in the same sense. Whether it's clockwise or anti-clockwise depends which side you look at the rotating disc from.
2007-04-01 05:59:54
·
answer #1
·
answered by Adam B 2
·
1⤊
0⤋
If a body is revolving around the sun, its inertia will tend to make it "roll" in the direction it's revolving. For example, imagine that the earth is revolving around the sun on a track. It would rotate as it rolled along. This is the same effect for all planets, except Venus, whos retrograde rotation may have been the result of a collision with another astronomical body.
2007-04-01 10:58:24
·
answer #2
·
answered by josh m 4
·
0⤊
0⤋
They revolve in all sorts of directions, not just clockwise...it all depends on where you are observing them...your frame of reference.
Example...the planet Uranus is virtually tipped on its side as compared to other planets. The planet Venus revolves on it axis in a retrograde motion so that one of its days are longer than its year.
2007-04-01 10:51:45
·
answer #3
·
answered by Shaula 7
·
0⤊
0⤋
Well, its only venus that orbits around sun in clockwise
direction, while the rest of the planets take the counter clockwise direction.
2007-04-01 10:50:45
·
answer #4
·
answered by cosmos 2
·
0⤊
2⤋
Because they were al formed from the planetary nebula that was rotating in that direction
2007-04-01 11:26:54
·
answer #5
·
answered by Anonymous
·
0⤊
0⤋
The spinning stabilizes them even if they are not perfectly balanced.
2007-04-01 13:52:13
·
answer #6
·
answered by JOHNNIE B 7
·
0⤊
0⤋