Ask a Teacher

Search



is the solar system revolving in anticlockwise direction

If we could stand outside the solar system and look down upon it from above the north pole of the Sun (or the Earth), we would see that nearly all the bodies in the solar system have motions that are anticlockwise.Most of the planets rotate about their own axes in an anticlockwise direction. This is called prograde rotation. Venus and Neptune are exceptions. Venus has a very slow clockwise rotation (termed retrograde), and Uranus, although it rotates every 15.5 hours, has its equator inclined at almost a right angle to its orbital plane. It is thus difficult to know whether to describe the rotation of Uranus as prograde with an equatorial inclination of 98o or retrograde with an inclination of 82o.


comments powered by Disqus