It's actually defined using the Earth and Sun as its basis, so there are two steps. The international Astronomical Union is the official Keeper of Names and Rules and Such™ for astronomy, and they have a definition for the north pole of a spinning object. I thought the north pole was defined by the planet itself, but that's not the case! From above the south pole it spins clockwise.Īs it happens that's also true of most planets and the Sun, which is why I tweeted what I did. The Earth is a sphere, and if you were floating in space above the north pole the Earth appears to spin counterclockwise. The two poles are different from each other in one way: If you look from above the surface down to one pole the sphere will appear to spin clockwise, and if you look down on the other pole it will appear to spin counterclockwise. There are lots of ways to think of the poles for example anywhere else on the rotating sphere, a point will make a circle in space as it moves around the rotation axis. These are where the axis of rotation intersects the surface of the sphere. Every spot is just like every other spot.īut if you spin it, like magic (but science!) two special points appear: The poles. As a physicist might phrase it, there are no preferred (special) points on the surface. They're all the same distance from the center, and that's their only defining characteristic. If you take a perfect sphere and just look at it, everywhere on its surface is exactly the same. So what does all this mean? Here comes the science! That’s a more accurate representation, IMO.- Phil your house with spiders s'il vous Plait January 20, 2019
I think I prefer my explanation, though! It makes it easier to see that they don’t spin backwards, they’re actually flipped over.
Oh hey, I didn’t know that, Guess I was wrong.
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