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October 2008 Extra

Astronomy: How did the solar system form with planets rotating the way they do ?

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    • CommentAuthorEarthUnit
    • CommentTimeJan 22nd 2009 edited
     
    Dear Joders
    Listening to the January extra pod cast Dr.Tim O`Brien was talking about how the Earth orbits the Sun, which made me think......... a dangerous thing.

    Looking down on the solar system from above the North Pole, planets orbit around the sun anti clock wise, and apart from Venus and Neptune rotate on their axis anti clock wise.

    Now with my limited knowledge, the laws of Kepler (or is it Newton) say that the closer you are to the Sun the faster your orbit speed. So as the rocks etc. that collided to form the planet, the bits closer to the sun move faster, and the rocks dust and ice further away from the sun move at a slower speed, which to me should make the planet rotate on its axis in a clock wise direction.

    My question is, what law of physics have I forgotten, to make them spin anti clockwise?
    Or more likely what have I got completely wrong ?

    thanks for any help, Geoff aka EARTHUNIT
    • CommentAuthorEarthUnit
    • CommentTimeJan 22nd 2009 edited
     
    I think I have just answered my own question here.

    Would it be gravitational tide forces from the Sun?
    Unless anyone know different, any more ideas comments still welcome

    And yes I will try to think before I post next time :-)
    • CommentAuthorEarthUnit
    • CommentTimeJan 27th 2009
     
    Well I have googled and wikipediaed to find out about this till my beers got warm, but still no joy after all the conservation of angular momentum, and the Magnetohydrodynamic effects ( not a clue what it means but it sounds good )
    I have come to 1 of 2 conclusions

    1) I am over looking something that is blindly obvious
    or
    2) no one really knows for sure and just uses words like “magnetohydrodynamics” to confuse me

    Anyone got any ideas ? or is a job for Dr. Tim ?


    PS Neptune spins quit happily anti clock wise and its Uranus that’s 90 degrees off 
    Sorry about that.

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