Science Forums 2

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by modest

Yes, I believe so. Clockwise in both pics. And, I should probably clarify (or at least give credit) the diagrams were not made by me, but came from this amateur radio astronomy type web page. But, I think, yes, the way the spirals are drawn in the second diagram would mean rotation would have to be clockwise.

~modest

EDIT: Wops, you said "counter-clockwise". I guess then, I disagree. Or, one of us is confused

OK We have to resolve this. Neither of your two diagrams specify up or down view or which pole is which.

"Get a Straight Answer"

... As for the rotation of the Earth... you should first of all realize that "clockwise" and "counter clockwise" are not absolute properties, but depend on your point of view. Imagine a clock with a transparent face, with you watching it from the rear. The number 12 is still on top and 6 still on the bottom, but now 3 is on the left and 9 on the right. So when the clock hand moves from 12 to 3, it moves ... counterclockwise!

To define rotations with no ambiguity, we can stipulate they are always observed from the NORTH, from some point far above the north pole of the Earth. ...

The more scholarly articles I've been off hunting simply don't seem to mention the direction, but I just found this answer for counter-clockwise. I honestly thought everything rotated counter-clockwise because of conservation of angular momentum?

Google Answers: In what direction does the Sun travel relative to the calendar year?

Originally Posted by Anonymous Blogger

The Sun is indeed in motion. It orbits the center of our galaxy at
the speed of approx 155 miles per second in a counter-clockwise
direction. And of course we are moving right along with it, being
"dragged" as you put it.

It takes the Sun (and us) about 200 - 250 million years to orbit once
around the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. So yes, the Sun does have
a "year" as well - about 200 million times or so as long as an Earth
year. ...