Ask A Scientist© Astronomy Archive

name         Kathleen Q.
status       educator
age          40s

Question -   In linking Web sites for a lesson on seasons I came
across two contradictory pictures. One showed earth revolving around the
sun from west to east, the other site showed it going from east to west.
Which is correct? (Both were from reputable sites: one, NASA, the other a
university astronomy department.) Thank you!
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The answer to this is best described as anti-clockwise when looking 'down' 
from
above the North Pole.

The Earth rotates in the same direction.

Howard Barnes.
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Looking down on the earth from a point above the North Pole, the earth
rotates about its own axis in  a counterclockwise direction, and rotates
about the sun also in a counterclockwise direction.

Looking down on the earth from a point above the South Pole, of course, both
directions are clockwise.

Richard E. Barrans Jr., Ph.D.
Assistant Director
PG Research Foundation, Darien, Illinois
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