See query. Also, what nudged the Earth and the planets to spin in one direction?
I believe it was that planet that hit us and broke off the moon; that’s what caused our axial tilt as well.
For one, winds would generally blow in the opposite direction, which would have significant effects on the location of deserts (those formed by mountains, as opposed to subtropical deserts which occur due to the general atmospheric circulation); for example, the western U.S. might be much wetter than it is now because the Rockies wouldn’t be in the way and moisture from the Gulf would flow westwards (the west coast would be much drier though due to the same mountains and a lack of offshore storms).
Ocean currents would also change; for example, the Gulf Stream would now flow up the eastern Atlantic (or even not exist as a distinct current) and northern Europe would be much colder than today due to prevailing winds off of Asia (recent extreme winters have been linked to a reversal of normal wind patterns, as described in the last paragraph here; note that the Gulf Stream itself isn’t as important as some would have you believe), while eastern Canada and possibly Greenland would be warmer.
Also, your kites would all be flying in the opposite directions… mostly. Think of the chaos!
The pressure fronts on weather maps would move right to left, and that would just look wrong.
But on the plus side, the sun wouldn’t shine through my bedroom window first thing in the morning.
Almost certainly not. All the planets revolve and rotate (except Uranus and Venus) in the same direction and the same way the sun rotates. This is presumably due to the original direction of the rotation of the gas cloud that condensed to form the Solar System and the conservation of angular momentum.
Many of the smaller moons of Jupiter and the other outer planets revolve around their planets in the opposite (retrograde) motion. This is because they were captured later and a retrograde capture is much easier. Triton is the only major moon that has a retrograde revolution.
Would a reversed Gulf Stream have changed the Africa/Caribbean/US slave trade triangle?
If the Middle Passage had taken longer, would the slave trade have been as profitable?
Most recent theory of the moon’s origins:
http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/10/earth-gave-violent-birth-to-the-moon-new-harvard-theory-says.php?ref=fpnewsfeed
The earth was spinning rapidly, so rapidly that it was football shaped. There was an impact. Part of the Earth’s crust and various material was thrown out, forming an accretion disc. Over the next 10,000 years the disc solidified into the moon. The earth’s rotation slowed and the remaining material formed into something closer to a sphere.
Can you elaborate on why retrograde capture is much easier?
And is it possible to estimate the number of astronomical objects–pick your scale for defining an object–that spin thisaway, and the others that spin thataway? Is/was it random?
Eleanor Roosevelt could fly. WWII would have been very different, ergo.
Cape Canaveral would be in California.
Why?
The Japanese flag would be different.
because in the real world, the location for rocket launches is carefully chosen. It’s in Florida for two reasons.
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to take advantage of the Earth spinning, which adds to the initial speed of the rocket. The closer to the equator, the better.
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In case of failure, the wreckage will fall over ocean, not a populated area.
Jules Verne picked Florida as the ideal launch site.
why?
It represents the rising sun, right? If the sun rose in the West, rather than the East, why would they pick a different symbol?
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The simple answer is that in any system with three or more bodies at least two of which are sizable there are very probably (the problem is not completely solved) no stable orbits for the smallest body. There are, of course, many possible “semi-stable” orbits or we wouldn’t have a Solar system at all. The region of stability for an orbit around a planet is further from the planet and wider for retrograde orbits than it is for prograde orbits so more things happen through there to get caught.
For orbiting the percentage of prograde orbits in the inner Solar System is probably close to 100% since all the planets and all the asteroids in the asteroid belt orbit this way. For rotating most objects smaller than the larger moons are probably tidally locked to their primaries, like the Moon is to Earth, so they have one face constantly facing their primary. This means they would have a prograde or retrograde sidereal (with respect to the stars) rotation if they have a prograde or retrograde revolution around their primary. They have, of course, no rotation with respect to their primary.
Perhaps their thinking would also reverse itself…somehow.
Japan is East of Asia so it is “The Land of the Rising Sun” with respect to mainland Asia. So presumably that nomenclature is Asia- rather than Japan-specific. If the Earth revolved the opposite way, Japan would be “The Land of the Setting Sun.” Of course, that would equally well be represented by their flag I’d think.
Thanks. 