From the June 2011 issue

Do galaxies rotate clockwise or counterclockwise? Do all galaxies rotate in the same direction?

Mike Burke, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
By | Published: June 27, 2011 | Last updated on May 18, 2023

Ring-galaxy
Ring galaxy imaged by Hubble.

It’s all relative. For the most part, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to which way galaxies are spinning. Galaxies’ spins seem to be related only when the galaxies are very close neighbors.