Thursday, May 9, 2013

Why does Earth rotate from west to east?

The angular momentum of pretty much the whole solar system is in the west to east direction. All the planets, the sun rotate that way. Venus and Uranus are the exception, as they rotate differently.  According to astronomers the rotation and orbits of the planets and stars are largely determined by conservation of angular momentum.  The direction of the rotation largely relies on gravity and other conditions in play as each celestial body is formed and enters its orbit.