Looking at the solar system from the north, my understanding is that the earth would appear to revolve in a counter-clockwise direction. It also rotates in the same direction, which is why the sun rises in the east. Besides the sun rising in the west, how would earth be any different if this were reversed? Would this even be possible; i.e., do other planets spin in an opposite direction to their orbits?
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If the Earth rotated at the same rate relative to the stars, just in the other direction, the length of the solar day would be different. If the Moon revolved in the current direction, there would also be a difference in the length of the month (the ultimate fate of the moon might also be somewhat different - I’ll have to think about it).
In answer to your question about other planets in the Solar System:
No. Venus and Uranus rotate in a direction that is not the same as that in which the Earth rotates, when viewed from the same point of reference. Venus is completely backward (it’s axial tilt is just slightly off vertical); Uranus rotates on its “side”, if you will, when viewed from that same reference point “above” the North Pole of the Earth. It’s just past horizontal, and if you look “down” onto the pole that points more “up” at the reference point, it rotates in a clockwise direction. Uranus is, frankly, weird. (and no, I’m not being personally insulting :D)
As for the Earth, IF somehow it could have axial spin in the opposite direction, but the Moon still revolved in the same direction, I would have to imagine that that would cause all sorts of slowing effects on each body. Other, more educated minds wrt astronomy can provide better answer.
I saw a documentary once that addressed this very topic. In it, a man flew around the Earth in a clockwise direction at a very high rate of speed, essentially slowing the Earth’s rotation and causing it to momentarily rotate in the opposite direction. One the effects was that time traveled backward.
For one thing, the global atmospheric circulation and wind patterns would be reversed, as well as oceanic currents. Assuming that the continents were distributed the same way they are now, this would produce a variety of effects on climate. Notably, the driest deserts would be on the eastern sides of continents rather than on the western sides, as they are now.
IIRC in an earlier written work, he was described as having done a handstand, which impressed nobody until they realized what he actually had done was to have pushed Earth of out its orbit.
Clocks would rotate the other way, which means that what we call clockwise and counterclockwise would be switched.
It would not make much difference, except for Colibri’s comment about the local climate conditions. The day would be about 8 minutes shorter (23 hours and 52 minutes) and there would be two more days in the year. Instead of rising 50 minutes later every day, the moon would rise 50 minutes earlier. The high low tides would show the same effect.
SciShow had an attempt at answering this a few weeks ago.
TL: DW
Planet is a lot cooler.
ETA: Realized he meant as it orbited the sun, no on its axis. Still, an interesting video.
No, the video is talking about reversing the direction of rotation, not revolution.
Interesting that the major effect they identify as cooling the global temperature is a wetter climate causing more growth of vegetation and thus pulling more carbon dioxide out of the air.
They did the simulation only for the last 7,000 years though. I wonder what the impact would have been on glaciation, since the Ice Ages are often thought to have been triggered by global oceanic circulation.
We’d be turned inside out! :eek:
Anyone remember who wrote the story about someone trying to solve the mystery ot the moebius strip and having solved it, is turned inside out? I think it was Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury or H.P. Lovecraft as those were my favorite authors.
Sounds close, but the other summaries I read don’t mention being turned inside out. It had to be short story because I rarely read full sci-fi or horror novels. IIRC, the protagonist was performing mathematical calculations to solve the mysteries (topological?) of the mobius strip.
I’m leaning towards Clarke because it reminds me of his Nine Billion Names of God when the super computers finally finish their task, the universe begins to come to an end.
Assuming nothing else changed the moon-earth system would be getting closer together vs further apart. The moon may thus be on a retrograde path due to the tidal forces and would eventually collide with the Earth, which would be rotating faster too.
To explain, the Earths rotation is getting slower primarily because the tidal force is transferring angular momentum to the moon increasing the distance between the two bodies.
And of course the toilets would swirl the other direction
Uh, no. Toilets swirl the way they do because of the design of the toilet, not the Coriolis effect.
My toilet just makes a whooshing sound…