The theory of the world as a geocentric system in the old days has been criticized and questioned more than once. It is known that Galileo Galilei worked on the proof of this theory. It belongs to him the phrase that went down in history: "And yet it spins!" But still he did not manage to prove this, as many think, but to Nicolaus Copernicus, who in 1543 wrote a treatise on the motion of celestial bodies around the Sun. Surprisingly, despite all this evidence, about the circular motion of the Earth around a huge luminary, in theory there are still open questions about the reasons that prompt it to this movement.
Motion reasons
The Middle Ages are behind, when people considered our planet motionless, and nobody disputes its movements. But the reasons why the Earth is heading on a path around the Sun are not known for certain. Three theories have been put forward:
- inert rotation;
- magnetic fields;
- exposure to solar radiation.
There are others, but they do not stand up to criticism. It is also interesting that the question: “In which direction does the Earth revolve around a huge celestial body?” Is also not correct enough. An answer to it has been received, but it is accurate only with respect to a generally accepted reference point.
The sun is a huge star around which life is concentrated in our planetary system. All these planets move around the sun in their orbits. Earth moves in a third orbit. Studying the question: “In which direction does the Earth rotate in orbit?”, Scientists made many discoveries. They realized that the orbit itself is not perfect, so our green planet is located at different points from the Sun at different points from it. Therefore, the average value was calculated: 149.6 million km.
Closest Earth to the Sun on January 3, and then on July 4. The concepts are associated with these phenomena: the smallest and largest time day in a year, in relation to night. Studying all the same question: “In which direction does the Earth rotate in its solar orbit?”, Scientists made another conclusion: the process of circular motion occurs both in orbit and around its own invisible rod (axis). Having made the discoveries of these two rotations, scientists asked questions not only of the reasons causing such phenomena, but also about the shape of the orbit, as well as the speed of rotation.
How did scientists determine which way the earth rotates around the sun in the planetary system?
The orbital picture of planet Earth was described by the German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler. In his fundamental work New Astronomy, he calls the orbit elliptical.
All objects on the Earth’s surface rotate with it, using generally accepted descriptions of the planetary picture of the solar system. We can say that, observing from the north from outer space, to the question: “In which direction does the Earth revolve around the central luminary?”, The answer will be as follows: “From west to east”.
Comparing with the movements of the hands in hours - this is against its course. This view was taken regarding the North Star. The same thing will be seen by a person located on the surface of the Earth from the Northern Hemisphere. Imagining himself on a ball moving around a stationary luminary, he will see his rotation from right to left. This is equivalent to moving against the clock or from west to east.
Earth axis
All this applies to the answer to the question: "In which direction does the Earth rotate around its axis?" - in the opposite direction the clock hands. But if you imagine yourself an observer in the Southern Hemisphere, the picture will look different - on the contrary. But, realizing that there are no concepts of west and east in space, scientists pushed off from the earth’s axis and the North Star, to which the axis is directed. This determined the generally accepted answer to the question: “In which direction does the Earth rotate around its axis and around the center of the solar system?” Accordingly, the Sun appears in the morning over the horizon from the east, and hides from our eyes in the west. It is interesting that many compare the earth's revolutions around its own invisible axial rod with the rotation of the top. But at the same time, the earth's axis is not visible and is somewhat tilted, and not vertical. All this is reflected in the shape of the globe and an elliptical orbit.
Starry and sunny days
In addition to answering the question: “In which direction does the Earth rotate clockwise or counterclockwise?”, The scientists calculated the revolution time around its invisible axis. It is 24 hours. Interestingly, this is only an approximate number. In fact, the full revolution is 4 minutes less (23 hours 56 minutes 4.1 seconds). This is the so-called starry day. We consider the day on a sunny day: 24 hours, since the Earth in its planetary orbit every day needs an additional 4 minutes to return to its place.