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352 points instagraham | 1 comments | 31 Mar 25 10:31 UTC | HN request time: 0.255s | source

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1970-01-01 ◴[31 Mar 25 15:00 UTC] No.43535810[source]▶

Spin a coin on top of a glass table. Observe it from the top, and it spins either clockwise or anticlockwise. Observe it from the bottom and it's the opposite. There are no tables in space. Objects tumble while rotating. It seems we are measuring rotations using a fixed perspective when there is no reason to do so

https://www.comsol.com/blogs/why-do-tennis-rackets-tumble-th...

replies(2): >>43535879 #>>43536013 #

1. hnuser123456 ◴[31 Mar 25 15:17 UTC] No.43536013[source]▶

>>43535810 #

If there were 10 pennies and 7 of them were spinning the same direction, you might say one direction appears to be favored.

Spiral galaxies spin, they do not tumble unless hit by another galaxy.

Elliptical galaxies are like gravitational convection and don't really have cohesive "rotation", however.

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James Webb Space Telescope reveals that most galaxies rotate clockwise