Astrophile
Active Member
The retrograde rotations of Venus and Uranus are probably the results of collisions with other planetary embryos. Such collisions were common during the formation of the planets (about 4500±50 million years ago); we owe the existence of the Moon to the Earth's collision with a Mars-sized planetesimal, and the oblique rotations of other planets (for example Saturn, Mars and Neptune) are probably the results of similar but smaller collisions.It is a cosmic mess out there.
Venus rotating the wrong way.
Uranus rotating on its side.
Galaxy 4266 with its arms leading the galaxies rotation not trailing it.
Titan retrograde.
The galaxy in question is NGC 4622, not NGC 4266. It is in Centaurus, and about 34 megaparsecs away. The inner spiral arms trail the galaxy's rotation, but the outer arms lead it. This could be the result of an encounter with another galaxy, but that is only a guess. (By the way, NGC stands for New General Catalogue.)
It is Triton (the largest satellite of Neptune) that is in a retrograde orbit, not Titan (the largest satellite of Saturn). Triton is probably a captured Kuiper-belt object.
These anomalous rotations, etc., do not support creationism. They are merely unexplained facts of astronomy, and are as inexplicable on a creationist or supernaturalist theory as on a physical or naturalist theory. Why should God have given Venus and Uranus retrograde rotations, Triton a retrograde orbit, and NGC 4622 leading spiral arms? (I know, it seemed a good idea at the time.)
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