Why planets move ant-clockwise direction

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the direction of planetary motion in the solar system, specifically why most planets revolve in what is described as an anti-clockwise direction around the sun. The scope includes theoretical explanations related to solar system formation and considerations of observational perspectives in three-dimensional space.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Technical explanation, Conceptual clarification, Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant explains that current solar system formation theories suggest that the initial dust and gas cloud possessed or acquired spin during its collapse, leading to the planets forming with a counter-clockwise rotation due to conservation of angular momentum.
  • Another participant challenges the use of "anti-clockwise" as a descriptor for planetary motion in three-dimensional space, emphasizing the need for a clear observational perspective.
  • A further reply reiterates the challenge, noting that the direction of orbits can appear different depending on the observer's position relative to the solar system's plane.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the terminology used to describe planetary motion and the implications of observational perspective, indicating that multiple competing views remain without a consensus on the best way to describe the motion.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights the dependence on the observer's viewpoint when describing orbital directions, which may lead to confusion or misinterpretation of terms like "anti-clockwise" in a three-dimensional context.

rick112
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Why majority of planets move in anti-clockwise direction around the sun??
 
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Current solar system formation theories say that as the dust and gas cloud that the solar system formed from collapsed, it started to spin. Either due to already possessing spin, or aquiring it during the collapse. This spin became more and more pronounced as the cloud collapsed due to conservation of angular momentum. When the sun and planets formed, since the cloud was rotating in a counter-clockwise direction, everything that formed rotates that way.
 
Anti-clockwise? That is not a way to describe the direction of revolution in a 3D space.
 
netheril96 said:
Anti-clockwise? That is not a way to describe the direction of revolution in a 3D space.

When the observer is out of the plane of the solar system and looking at it face-on from the side of the sun's north pole, the direction of the planets' orbits is counter-clockwise.

Obviously an observer looking at the plane face on, but from the other side of the plane, would see the orbits as going clockwise.
 

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