Science Questions

Which way does the Earth travel around the sun and is the sun spinning and moving too? John in Lowestoft

If you look at the Earth from above, then it's going around anticlockwise. Now the obvious question is 'which way is above in the vacuum of space'? How do you define that? Well if you're looking down on the Earth onto the North Pole it's going anticlockwise. The sun is also spinning. It goes around every few hours and is actually moving around through the galactic disk around the galactic centre. The galaxy is also spinning, so our sun is making a grand tour of the galaxy I think every few million years. Of course, the Milky Way is also moving through the Universe so everything is moving and it's all down to what you perspective is on that.

March 2006