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Philosophaie
Jul20-08, 10:42 AM
Recently I wrote a letter to Jet Propultion Laboratory's Webmaster but never got a response. It stated that the Solar Simulator on their website http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/solar_system/
is wrong even considering there was no inclination, i, is for all planets. Still the planets Venus and Uranus rotate counterclockwise as time passes if viewed from the North Pole side of the universe. The rest of the planets rotate clockwise, as time passes if viewed from the North Poleside of the universe. In JPL's depiction all the planets rotate counterclockwise. Am I wrong or is this not the case?

tony873004
Jul20-08, 02:30 PM
Uranus is featureless in those simulations. How can you tell which way it rotates?

Are you confusing "rotates" with "revolves"?

Rotate refers to the direction the planet spins on its axis, while revolve refers to the direction the planet moves in its orbit around the Sun.

All planets in our solar system revolve counterclockwise as viewed from North.

MTyler8
Jul24-08, 07:00 PM
If we use the right-hand-rule for planet rotation then all planets rotate correctly, its just that Venus and Uranus do so at very inclined angles.

To find the north pole of a planet think of your right thumb as representing the pole and have your fingers curl in the direction of the planet's rotation. You'll find that for Earth your thumb points up, sideways for Uranus, and almost straight down for Venus.

Also note that from the Sun's north pole, looking down on the Solar System, the planets both rotate and revolve counter-clockwise.

Philosophaie
Jul24-08, 08:08 PM
My bad, got rotation around the sun and axial spin confused.