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Why are all planets observed to revolve in the same direction around the Sun?

All planets are observed to revolve in the same direction around the Sun. Additionally, most planets rotate in this same direction around their axis. How does the solar nebula theory explain this?

All the planets revolve around the Sun in the same direction because it is believed that this was the direction of rotation of the solar nebula – the cloud of gas and dust from which the Sun and all the planets were created some 4.5 billion years ago.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 11:39 pm and is filed under planets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Why are all planets observed to revolve in the same direction around the Sun?”

  1. crazychild says:
    February 10, 2010 at 5:23 am

    It is just conservation of angular momentum. It is like a top spinning toy. It takes a large effort for a planet to suddenly stop and orbit in the opposite direction.
    References :

  2. Resident Astronomer says:
    February 10, 2010 at 5:54 am

    All the planets revolve around the Sun in the same direction because it is believed that this was the direction of rotation of the solar nebula – the cloud of gas and dust from which the Sun and all the planets were created some 4.5 billion years ago.
    References :

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