Q: The Sun orbits the center of our galaxy in a clockwise direction, but the planets in the solar system orbit the Sun in a counterclockwise direction. Why is this?
Rich Zaykoski
Hampstead, Maryland
A: The planets of our solar system orbit the Sun in a counterclockwise direction (when viewed from above the Sun’s north pole) because of the way our solar system formed. Our Sun was born from a cloud of dust and gas, the remnants of which — called the solar nebula — became the