James Webb Space Telescope Reveals That Most Galaxies Rotate Clockwise

Re:James Webb Space Telescope Reveals That Most Galaxies Rot... by prawn on Monday March 31, 2025 @07:49PM (#43541306)

Dumb question time continues: The majority of the solar planets rotate in the same way, and the majority of the large moons rotate in the same direction as their planets. I assume this is influenced by the rotation of the relevant accretion disks. And I assume this is common for stars within a galaxy?

I don't think the universe is considered to have any significant rotation, however. Is this due to scale for us to measure, and/or having nothing external to compare against?

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Re:James Webb Space Telescope Reveals That Most Galaxies Rot... by jfengel on Monday March 31, 2025 @08:30PM (#43541564)

That's exactly it. Solar systems and galaxies have net rotation, and maybe even galactic clusters.

But there is no reason to think that the universe has a net rotation. It could have one; you don't need a frame of reference to detect rotation. (The same way you feel centrifugal force.)

It would be huge if it were shown to have a net rotation. So huge that I take this claim with skepticism until heavily confirmed.

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