B Which Way Do Planets in Our Galaxy Spin?

[Canada Bob]

TL;DR Summary

Is the spin the same ?

Do all the planets in all the solar systems in our Galaxy spin in the same direction ?
Clockwise or anti clockwise depending on the viewers POV.

 

[PeterDonis]

Do all the planets in all the solar systems in our Galaxy spin in the same direction ?

We don't know the spin of any planets outside our solar system, but we do know that even just within our solar system, not all planets spin in the same direction. Venus's spin is retrograde, and Uranus's spin axis is tilted on its side (i.e., close to the plane of its orbit).

 

[PeterDonis]

Moderator's note: Thread moved to Astronomy forum.

 

[Canada Bob]

We don't know the spin of any planets outside our solar system, but we do know that even just within our solar system, not all planets spin in the same direction. Venus's spin is retrograde, and Uranus's spin axis is tilted on its side (i.e., close to the plane of its orbit).

Thanks for the above Peter, apprecited, maybe I should rephrase my question, it's the path around the sun or any other star that I meant to ask about, rather than the spin of the planet itself.

If depending on the POV all the planets in our solar system follow a clockwise path around the sun, would all the planets in our galazy follow clockwise paths around their stars ?

I'm wondering if the motion of arms of stars swirling around our galaxy dictates the path of planets around their stars ?

 

[phyzguy]

The orbital planes of different star systems are oriented essentially randomly, so no they don't all orbit in the same direction.

 

[Bystander]

If depending on the POV all the planets in our solar system follow a clockwise path around the sun, would all the planets in our galazy follow clockwise paths around their stars ?

Angular momentum is conserved, if that's your question.

 

[PeterDonis]

it's the path around the sun or any other star that I meant to ask about

Ah, got it. In our solar system, all of the orbits of the planets are roughly in the same plane (though not exactly) and in the same direction. However, as others have noted, the planes of different stellar systems are oriented randomly (at least as far as we know), so it would not make sense to say that planets of other stars orbit in the same direction as planets in our solar system do.

 

[Hornbein]

What's more than that, three-dimensional rotation is non-orientable. That is, it is artificial to say that it is clockwise or anti-clockwise. It depends completely on the position of the observer.

In spaces with an even number of dimensions, rotation is orientable. Such is the case with quantum spin.