For billions of years, day after day, the Earth revolves on its axis. This makes sunrises and sunsets a commonplace for life on our planet. The Earth has been doing this since it formed 4.6 billion years ago. And it will continue to do so until it ceases to exist. This is likely to happen when the Sun turns into a red giant and swallows our planet. But why Earth?
Why does the Earth rotate?
The earth was formed from a disk of gas and dust that revolved around the newborn Sun. Thanks to this spatial disk, dust and rock particles were combined to form the Earth. As the Earth grew, the space rocks continued to collide with the planet. And they had an impact on it, which made our planet rotate. And since all the debris in the early solar system revolved around the sun in roughly the same direction, the collisions that caused the Earth (and most of the rest of the solar system's bodies) to spin spun it in that same direction.
Gas and dust disk
A reasonable question arises - why did the gas-dust disk itself rotate? The sun and solar system were formed at the moment when the cloud of dust and gas began to thicken under its own weight. Most of the gas came together to become the Sun, and the remaining material created the planetary disk surrounding it. Before it took shape, gas molecules and dust particles moved within its boundaries evenly in all directions. But at some point, randomly, some gas and dust molecules put their energy in one direction. This established the direction of rotation of the disc. When the gas cloud began to compress, its rotation accelerated. The same process occurs when the skaters begin to spin faster if they press their hands to the body.
In space, there are not many factors capable of planetary rotation. Therefore, as soon as they begin to rotate, this process does not stop. The rotating young solar system has a large angular momentum. This characteristic describes the tendency of an object to continue rotating. It can be assumed that all exoplanets, too, probably begin to rotate in the same direction around their stars when their planetary system forms.
And we are spinning the other way around!
Interestingly, in the solar system, some planets have a direction of rotation opposite to the movement around the sun. Venus rotates in the opposite direction to Earth. And the axis of rotation of Uranus is tilted 90 degrees. Scientists do not fully understand the processes that caused these planets to obtain such directions of rotation. But they have some guesses. Venus may have received such a rotation as a result of a collision with another cosmic body at an early stage of its formation. Or perhaps Venus began to rotate just like other planets. But over time, the sun's gravity began to slow down its rotation due to its dense clouds. Which, combined with the friction between the planet's core and its mantle, caused the planet to rotate the other way.
In the case of Uranus, scientists theorized that there was a collision of the planet with a huge rocky debris. Or perhaps with several different objects that changed the axis of its rotation.
Despite such anomalies, it is clear that all objects in space rotate in one direction or another.
Everything revolves
Asteroids rotate. The stars are turning. According to NASA, galaxies rotate too. The solar system takes 230 million years to complete one revolution around the center of the Milky Way. Some of the fastest rotating objects in the universe are dense, circular objects called pulsars. They are the remnants of massive stars. Some pulsars, which are the size of a city, can orbit around their axis hundreds of times per second. The fastest and most famous of them, discovered in 2006 and dubbed Terzan 5ad, rotates 716 times per second.
Black holes can do this even faster. It is assumed that one of them, named GRS 1915 + 105, can rotate at a speed of 920 to 1150 times per second.
However, the laws of physics are unforgiving. All rotations eventually slow down. When, it rotated on its axis at a rate of one revolution every four days. Today our star takes about 25 days to complete one revolution. Scientists believe the reason for this is because the sun's magnetic field interacts with the solar wind. This is what slows down its rotation.
The rotation of the Earth is also slowing down. The gravity of the moon acts on the earth in such a way that it slowly slows down its rotation. Scientists have calculated that the Earth's rotation has slowed by about 6 hours in total over the past 2,740 years. This is only 1.78 milliseconds over a century.
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It took a man many millennia to understand that the Earth is not the center of the Universe and is in constant motion.
Galileo Galilei's phrase "And yet it turns!" went down in history forever and became a kind of symbol of that era when scientists from different countries tried to refute the theory of the geocentric system of the world.
Although the Earth's rotation was proven about five centuries ago, the exact reasons that prompted it to move are still unknown.
Why is the Earth spinning on an axis?
In the Middle Ages, people believed that the Earth was motionless, and the Sun and other planets revolved around it. Only in the 16th century did astronomers succeed in proving the opposite. Despite the fact that many associate this discovery with Galileo, in fact it belongs to another scientist - Nicolaus Copernicus.
It was he who, in 1543, wrote the treatise "On the Circulation of the Celestial Spheres", where he put forward the theory of the movement of the Earth. For a long time, this idea did not receive support either from his colleagues or from the church, but in the end it had a huge impact on the scientific revolution in Europe and became fundamental in the further development of astronomy. 
After the theory of the rotation of the Earth was proven, scientists began to look for the causes of this phenomenon. Over the past centuries, many hypotheses have been put forward, but even today no astronomer can accurately answer this question.
Currently, there are three main versions that have the right to life - the theory of inertial rotation, magnetic fields and the effect of solar radiation on the planet.
The theory of inert rotation
Some scientists are inclined to believe that once (during the time of its appearance and formation) the Earth spun, and now it rotates by inertia. Having formed from cosmic dust, it began to attract other bodies to itself, which gave it an additional impulse. This assumption applies to other planets in the solar system.
The theory has many opponents, since it cannot explain why at different times the speed of the Earth's movement either increases or decreases. It is also unclear why some of the planets of the solar system rotate in the other direction, such as Venus.
The theory of magnetic fields
If you try to connect two magnets with an equally charged pole together, they will start repelling each other. The theory of magnetic fields assumes that the poles of the Earth are also charged in the same way and, as it were, repel each other, which makes the planet spin. 
Interestingly, scientists recently made a discovery that the Earth's magnetic field pushes its inner core from west to east and makes it rotate faster than the rest of the planet.
Sun exposure hypothesis
The most probable theory is considered to be the radiation of the Sun. It is well known that it heats up the surface shells of the Earth (air, seas, oceans), but at the same time heating occurs unevenly, as a result of which sea and air currents are formed.
It is they who, when interacting with the solid shell of the planet, make it rotate. The continents act as a kind of turbines that determine the speed and direction of movement. If they are not monolithic enough, they begin to drift, which affects the increase or decrease in speed.
Why does the earth move around the sun?
The reason for the revolution of the Earth around the Sun is called inertia. According to the theory of the formation of our star, about 4.57 billion years ago, a huge amount of dust arose in space, which gradually turned into a disk, and then into the Sun.
The outer particles of this dust began to combine with each other, forming planets. Even then, by inertia, they began to revolve around the star and continue to move along the same trajectory today. 
According to Newton's law, all cosmic bodies move in a straight line, that is, in fact, the planets of the solar system, including the Earth, should have long ago flown into outer space. But that doesn't happen.
The reason is that the Sun has a large mass and, accordingly, a huge gravity. While the Earth is moving, it always tries to rush away from it in a straight line, but gravitational forces pull it back, so the planet is kept in orbit and revolves around the Sun.
Thanks to astronomical observations, we know that all the planets of the solar system rotate around their own axis... And it is also known that all planets have one or another angle of inclination of the axis of rotation to the plane of the ecliptic... It is also known that during the year each of the two hemispheres of any of the planets changes its distance to, but by the end of the year the position of the planets relative to the Sun turns out to be the same as a year ago (or, more precisely, almost the same). There are also facts that are unknown to astronomers, but which nevertheless exist. So, for example, there is a constant, but smooth change in the angle of inclination of the axis of any planet. The angle increases. And, besides this, there is a constant and smooth increase in the distance between the planets and the Sun. Is there a connection between all the listed phenomena?
The answer is yes, definitely. All these phenomena are due to the existence of planets like Fields of Attraction and Repulsion Fields, the peculiarities of their location in the composition of the planets, as well as a change in their size. We are so used to the knowledge that our rotates on its axis, and also to the fact that the northern and southern hemispheres of the planet during the year are moving away, then approaching the Sun. And with the rest of the planets, everything is the same. But why do the planets behave this way? What drives them? Let's start with the fact that any of the planets can be compared to an apple, planted on a skewer and roasted over a fire. The role of "fire" in this case is played by the Sun, and the "spit" is the axis of rotation of the planet. Of course, people often fry meat, but here we turn to the experience of vegetarians, because fruits are often rounded, which brings them closer to the planets. If we roast an apple over a fire, we do not turn it around the source of the flame. Instead, we rotate the apple and also change the position of the skewer in relation to the fire. The same thing happens with the planets. They rotate and change during the year the position of the "spit" relative to the Sun, thus warming up their "sides".
The reason why the planets revolve around their axes, and also during the year their poles periodically change their distance to the Sun, is approximately the same for which we turn an apple over fire. The analogy with the spit was not chosen here by chance. We always keep the least cooked (least heated) area of the apple over the fire. The planets also always tend to turn towards the Sun with their least heated side, the total Field of Attraction of which is maximum in comparison with the other sides. However, the expression “strive to turn” does not mean that this is how it actually happens. The whole trouble is that any of the planets at the same time has two sides at once, the desire of which to the Sun is greatest. These are the poles of the planet. This means that from the very moment of the birth of the planet, both poles simultaneously tried to occupy such a position in order to be closest to the Sun.
Yes, yes, when we talk about the attraction of the planet to the Sun, it should be borne in mind that different areas of the planet are attracted to it in different ways, i.e. in varying degrees. The smallest is the equator. In the greatest - the poles. Pay attention - there are two poles. Those. two areas at once tend to be at the same distance from the center of the sun. The poles throughout the entire existence of the planet continue to balance, constantly competing with each other for the right to take a position closer to the Sun. But even if one pole temporarily wins and turns out to be closer to the Sun in comparison with the other, this, the other, continues to "graze" it, trying to turn the planet in such a way as to be closer to the luminary itself. This struggle between the two poles directly affects the behavior of the entire planet as a whole. It is difficult for the poles to approach the Sun. However, there is a factor that makes it easier for them. This factor is existence angle of inclination of rotation to the plane of the ecliptic.
However, at the very beginning of the life of the planets, they did not have any axis tilt. The reason for the appearance of the tilt is the attraction of one of the poles of the planet by one of the poles of the Sun.
Consider how the tilt of the axes of the planets appears?
When the matter from which the planets are formed is ejected from the Sun, the ejection does not necessarily occur in the plane of the Sun's equator. Even a slight deviation from the plane of the equator of the Sun leads to the fact that the formed planet is closer to one of the poles of the Sun than to the other. To be more precise, only one of the poles of the formed planet is closer to one of the poles of the Sun. For this reason, it is this pole of the planet that experiences greater attraction from the side of the sun's pole, to which it is closer.
As a result, one of the planet's hemispheres immediately turned in the direction of the Sun. This is how the planet got its initial tilt of the axis of rotation. The hemisphere, which turned out to be closer to the Sun, accordingly, immediately began to receive more solar radiation. And because of this, this hemisphere from the very beginning began to warm up to a greater extent. Greater warming up of one of the planet's hemispheres causes the total Gravity Field of this hemisphere to decrease. Those. in the course of warming up the hemisphere approaching the Sun, its desire to approach the Sun's pole began to decrease, the attraction of which made the planet tilt. And the more this hemisphere warmed up, the more the tendency of both poles of the planet - each to its nearest pole of the Sun - became equal. As a result, the warming hemisphere turned more and more away from the Sun, and the cooler one began to approach. But notice how this polarity reversal took place (and is). Very peculiar.
After the planet has formed from the matter ejected by the Sun, and now revolves around it, it immediately begins to heat up with solar radiation. This heating causes it to rotate around its own axis. Initially, there was no tilt of the axis of rotation. Because of this, the equatorial plane warms up the most. Because of this, it is in the equatorial region that the non-vanishing Repulsion Field appears first of all and its value is greatest from the very beginning. In the areas adjacent to the equator, over time, a non-vanishing Repulsion Field also appears. The magnitude of the area of the areas on which there is a Repulsion Field is shown by the angle of inclination of the axis.
But the Sun also has a permanently existing Repulsion Field. And, like the planets, in the equator of the Sun, the magnitude of its Repulsion Field is greatest. And since all the planets at the time of their ejection and formation were approximately in the area of the equator of the Sun, they thus turned in the zone where the Repulsion Field of the Sun is greatest. It is because of this, due to the fact that there will be a collision of the largest Repulsive Fields of the Sun and the planet, the change in the position of the planet's hemispheres cannot occur vertically. Those. the lower hemisphere cannot just go back and up, and the upper hemisphere cannot just go forward and down.
The planet in the process of changing hemispheres follows a "roundabout maneuver". It makes a turn in such a way that its own equatorial Repulsion Field least collides with the Sun's equatorial Repulsion Field. Those. the plane in which the equatorial Repulsion Field of the planet is manifested turns out to be at an angle to the plane in which the equatorial Repulsion Field of the Sun is manifested. This allows the planet to maintain its available distance to the Sun. Otherwise, if the planes coincided in which the Repulsion Fields of the planet and the Sun were manifested, the planet would be sharply thrown away from the Sun.
This is how the planets change the position of their hemispheres relative to the Sun - sideways, sideways ...
The time from the summer solstice to the winter solstice for any of the hemispheres is a period of gradual heating of that hemisphere. Accordingly, the time from the winter solstice to the summer is a period of gradual cooling. The very moment of the summer solstice corresponds to the lowest total temperature of the chemical elements of this hemisphere.
And the moment of the winter solstice corresponds to the highest total temperature of chemical elements in this hemisphere. Those. at the moments of the summer and winter solstices, the hemisphere that is most cooled at that moment is turned towards the Sun. Amazing, isn't it? After all, everything, as our everyday experience tells us, should be the other way around. After all, it is warm in summer and cold in winter. But in this case we are not talking about the temperature of the surface layers of the planet, but about the temperature of the entire thickness of the substance.
But the moments of the spring and autumn equinox just correspond to the time when the total temperatures of both hemispheres are equal. That is why at this time both hemispheres are at the same distance from the Sun.
And finally, I will say a few words about the role of heating planets by solar radiation. Let's do a little thought experiment in which we will see what would happen if the stars did not emit elementary particles and thereby heat up the planets around them. If the Sun of the planet was not heated, they would all always be turned to the Sun by one side, like the Moon, a satellite of the Earth, always facing the Earth with the same side. The lack of heating, firstly, would deprive the planet of the need to rotate around its own axis. Secondly, if there were no heating, there would not have been a successive rotation of the planets towards the Sun by one or the other hemisphere during the year.
Thirdly, if there were no heating of the planets by the Sun, the axis of rotation of the planets would not tilt to the plane of the ecliptic. Although with all this, the planets would continue to revolve around the sun (around the star). And, fourthly, the planets would not gradually increase the distance to.
Tatiana Danina
Today there is not the slightest doubt that the earth revolves around the sun. If not so long ago, on the scale of the history of the Universe, people were sure that the center of our galaxy is the Earth, then today there is no doubt that everything is happening exactly the opposite.
And today we will figure out why the Earth and all other planets move around the Sun.
Why do planets revolve around the sun
Both the Earth and all the other planets of our solar system move along their trajectory around the Sun. Their speed and trajectory may be different, but they are all kept by our natural luminary.
Our task is to make it as simple and accessible as possible to understand why the Sun has become the center of the universe, attracting all other celestial bodies to itself.
To begin with, the Sun is the largest object in our galaxy. The mass of our star is several times greater than the mass of all other bodies in the aggregate. And in physics, as you know, the force of universal gravitation acts, which has not been canceled, including for the Cosmos. Its law states that bodies with a lower mass are attracted to bodies with a greater mass. That is why all planets, satellites and other space objects are attracted to the Sun, the largest of them.
The force of gravity, by the way, works in a similar way on Earth. Think, for example, of what happens to a tennis ball thrown into the air. It falls, gravitating towards the surface of our planet.
Understanding the principle of the planets' aspiration to the Sun, the obvious question arises: why do they not fall on the surface of the star, but move around it along their own trajectory.
And there is also a completely understandable explanation for this. The thing is that the Earth and other planets are in constant motion. And, in order not to go into formulas and scientific rantings, we will give another simple example. Let's take a tennis ball again and imagine that you were able to throw it forward with a force that is beyond the reach of any human. This ball will fly forward, continuing to fall downward, gravitating towards the Earth. However, the Earth, as you remember, is in the shape of a ball. Thus, the ball will be able to fly around our planet along a certain trajectory endlessly, being attracted to the surface, but moving so fast that its trajectory will constantly bend around the circumference of the globe.
A similar situation occurs in the Cosmos, where everything and everyone revolves around the Sun. As for the orbit of each of the objects, the trajectory of their movement depends on the speed and mass. And these indicators for all objects, as you know, are different.
This is why the Earth and other planets move around the Sun, and not otherwise.
Even in ancient times, pundits began to understand that it is not the Sun that revolves around our planet, but everything happens exactly the opposite. Nicolaus Copernicus put an end to this controversial fact for mankind. The Polish astronomer created his own heliocentric system, in which he convincingly proved that the Earth is not the center of the Universe, and all the planets, in his firm belief, revolve in orbits around the Sun. The work of the Polish scientist "On the rotation of the celestial spheres", was published in the German Nuremberg in 1543.
The ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy was the first to express the idea of how the planets are located in the firmament in his treatise "The Great Mathematical Construction in Astronomy". He was the first to suggest that they make their movements in a circle. But Ptolemy mistakenly believed that all the planets, as well as the Moon and the Sun, move around the Earth. Prior to Copernicus's work, his treatise was generally accepted in both the Arab and Western worlds.
From Brahe to Kepler
After the death of Copernicus, his work was continued by the Dane Tycho Brahe. The astronomer, who is a very wealthy man, equipped his island with impressive bronze circles, on which he applied the results of observations of celestial bodies. The results obtained by Brahe helped the mathematician Johannes Kepler in the study. It was the German who systematized the motion of the planets of the solar system and derived his three famous laws.
From Kepler to Newton
Kepler was the first to prove that all 6 planets known by that time move around the Sun not in a circle, but in ellipses. The Englishman Isaac Newton, having discovered the law of universal gravitation, significantly advanced the idea of mankind about the elliptical orbits of celestial bodies. His explanations that the ebb and flow of the earth occur under the influence of the moon, proved to be convincing for the scientific world.
Around the sun
Comparative sizes of the largest satellites of the solar system and the terrestrial planets.
The period during which the planets make a complete revolution around the Sun is naturally different. For Mercury, the closest to the star, it is 88 Earth days. Our Earth goes through a cycle in 365 days and 6 hours. The largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter completes its revolution in 11.9 Earth years. Well, Pluto, the planet farthest from the Sun, has a turnover of 247.7 years.
It should also be taken into account that all the planets in our solar system move, not around the star, but around the so-called center of mass. Each at the same time, rotating around its axis, slightly swayed (like a whirligig). In addition, the axis itself may be slightly displaced.
