4 ms·
Mostly because of conservation of angular momentum: the solar system formed while spinning, and that direction has been maintained. The cases where this is not
by frabert 7y ago
Mostly because of conservation of angular momentum: the solar system formed while spinning, and that direction has been maintained. The cases where this is not true (for example, Uranus has its poles "facing the plane" instead of having them orthogonal to it) are likely due to past collisions with foreign bodies that caused the tilt to appear.
- saagarjha 7y agoAre most of these moons from when the solar system formed?
- twic 7y agoMaybe not, but the angular momentum is. Without a big input of energy and momentum to cause a plane change, anything that forms in the solar system will orbit roughly in the plane of the ecliptic, and will spin on an axis normal to it.