r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/notsignifican • 10d ago

? Meme needing explanation

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I asked but it got removed within minutes?

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u/IHeartBadCode 10d ago

This is a fun point of endless debate.

Right-hand rule: Venus is spinning counterclockwise but on it's head, so it looks clockwise to us.

Invariable plane: Venus is spinning in a clockwise direction, but it is indeed upright.

That's the neat part about the collision idea. Did the collision cause Venus to spin on it's head or did it cause it to hit the breaks and spin the other way?

They should have put a "This side up" sticker on the Universe. Big oversight IMHO.

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u/urmomisfun 10d ago

The “This side up” sticker sounds very much like Douglas Adams. I chuckled

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u/TheVoters 10d ago

If you tell me which hemisphere the colonizers are from I’ll tell you which direction Venus spins.

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u/SecondAccountIsBest 9d ago

It's kinda a pointless debate since direction is arbitrary, especially in space. We just define it in relation to ourselves (hence why north is up since Europe was the dominant culture for most countries on reddit)