<p>Your confusion arise from the definition of East and West hemispheres. That's an arbitrary and confusing definition. Because East and West are relative directions. Meaning they depend on the position were they are specified.</p>

<p>East and West <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_direction" rel="noreferrer">come from the proto-germanic languages</a>, where East means dawn and West means evening. Therefore, East from any given point is roughly the direction at which the sunrise happen. And West is where the sunset happens.</p>

<p>That's why the east/west hemispheres definition is confusing, because if you are in the middle of the pacific, the Western hemisphere is towards the East... confusing.</p>

<p>So let's forget about East/West hemispheres, and consider the East/West cardinal directions. Where East is 90° to the right of North and West 90° to the left of North. These directions keep the original spirit, on which East points roughly to the sunrise, and West to the sunset.
Let's also forget about clockwise and counterclockwise, because that depends on where are you looking from. If you are on top of the North pole it will look like Earth is rotating counterclockwise, but from the top of the South pole it will be clockwise.</p>

<p>Now, when we say that Earth rotates to the East, we mean that each point on the surface is moving to the East of that point.</p>

<p>The following figure taken from <a href="http://www.pulauubinstories.com/tag/seasons-day-spa/" rel="noreferrer">pulauubinstories.com</a> will help clarifying the point:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/3z2xk.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/3z2xk.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>In the figure is clear that the fact that sunrise happens to the East is because we are moving in that direction. At dawn, as we move Eastwards we enter in the sunlit side of Earth, producing the sunrise. And as we keep moving Eastwards during the day, we enter in the night side of Earth, leaving the sunshine and the sunset to the West.</p>

<p>Therefore, as East means "dawn" it follows (basically by definition) that Earth rotates to the East.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-13T17:05:46.240Z
2018-02-13T17:43:01.210Z
2018-02-13T17:43:01.210Z
Camilo Rada
<p>Imagine you can fly ignoring wind, gravitation and other forces. You are exactly on the rotation axis looking down the Earth on its North side. You'll see the Earth turning counter-clockwise. But If you look at the same but in South Hemisphere, the Earth is turning clockwise. This is just a convention and it depends on your point of view.</p>

<p>Nevertheless, If we look at the Earth from outside in the way that the North Pole is up and South Pole is down, you are going to see West on your left hand and East on your right hand. Always, does not matter how much you rotate. It does <strong>not</strong> depend on your point of view.</p>

<p>All this works as long as we set the North Pole up and West is always on its left. It is illustrtated in <a href="https://goo.gl/gPKoX9" rel="noreferrer">this gif</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-30T14:36:59.610Z
Earth also rotates west to east on the southern hemisphere. This is not a convention.
Christoph
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-30T15:26:17.280Z
Agree with Christoph.  Alejandro's example works just as well if you're flying above the equator, no matter which way is "up" for you.
TTT
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-30T17:06:43.477Z
You are right. Edited.
Alejandro Jiménez Rico
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-31T06:19:36.067Z
But even by looking from above the north pole Earth's Eastern hemisphere moves towards the western hemisphere. That is Earth rotates from east to west.
user31782
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-01T19:26:11.483Z
@user31782: Not unless you're looking on a timescale long enough to involve plate tectonics.  On human timescales, the surface of the Earth is fixed.
jamesqf
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-02T03:55:51.587Z
@jamesqf I don't mean that the land of hemisphere slides; I mean as the Earth rotates the Eastern hemisphere also rotates and after 12 hours comes where the western hemisphere was.
user31782
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-02T06:22:07.873Z
@user31782: Err... Yes, that's the definition of rotation, isn't it?  And the direction of rotation is East, by definition.
jamesqf
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-02T06:30:10.560Z
@jamesqf I got your point that East is the direction to which any point on the surface moves. But I don't understand the line _Earth rotates from west to east_. Does Earth here mean the whole globe or the land surface? If it means the land surface then that's ok but if it means the whole globe then it doesn't make sense.
user31782
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-02T22:19:15.180Z
@user31782 Have you ever played with a spinning top? This is the same thing, man. It either rotates in one way or another, the direction doesn't change because of how you've defined your hemispheres. _From west to east_ is rather arbitrary, but if you want to avoid that you'd have to define the vector of the angular velocity, but that's just silly.
Alfredo Hernández
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-03T01:21:09.953Z
@AlfredoHernández  
I agree that there can be only one kind of rotation--clockwise or anticlockwise. What I am saying is that, west to east doesn't specify whether it is rotating clockwise or anti-clockwise because we can reach East from west bothways, clockwise and anticlockwise.
user31782
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-03T07:07:18.117Z
@user31782 good point. As Alejandro says, it all summarises (as most conventions) is the fact that we are close minded and think everyone lives in Europe and the North is *up*; if you take that as your reference points, that's the most visual way to describe the Earth's rotation.
Alfredo Hernández
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-04T10:39:29.577Z
_"What I am saying is that, west to east doesn't specify whether it is rotating clockwise or anti-clockwise"_ No it doesn't - b/c it doesn't have to. That's the whole point! 
clock-/counterclockwise aren't fundamental standard-names for _every_ rotation - you are using the nomenclature from a second system & an arbitrary viewpoint to reference your initial system. 
Which you don't have to do, if your initial system possess it's own definition .. _and thus where born the cardinal directions_. 
"East" for "Earth" is basically a similar thing as "clockwise" for your clock (or rather the pointer).
ymirsson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-30T12:33:14.813Z
2016-01-31T15:06:16.497Z
2016-01-31T15:06:16.497Z
Alejandro Jiménez Rico
<p>The Earth rotates from west to east or counter-clockwise. You can do simple experiment. put your face towards the polar star and stretch your hands. Your head shows North (towards polar star) and your left hand points towards  west,  your right hand points towards east and your back head points towards South. The sun rises in the East - from the direction of your right hand and sets in the west - towards your left hand. Assume the sun is fixed in space because with respect to the Earth rotation speed the Sun's rotation is very small.  Hence it is the Earth which is rotating and is the reason for sunrise and sunset. If the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, then the Earth should rotate in the opposite direction from west to east (anti-clockwise).  </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-01T05:25:54.507Z
Then my right hand is the East of Earth and the left hand is west of Earth. Now since the Earth is rotating counter-clock wise my right hand is rotating towards left that is Earth's East is rotating towards Earth's west. So doesn't it mean that Earth rotates from east to west.
user31782
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-01T17:33:02.143Z
I know what you mean. Your axis of rotation determines that. According to your assumption the axis of rotation is perpendicular to longitude lines. That is why you thought it wrongly. The axis of rotation of the Earth is from North to South with a little tilt - obliquity. You can look at this example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation#/media/File:AxialTiltObliquity.png
Gemechu Fanta Garuma
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-02T03:52:13.947Z
I am taking the axis of rotation just as shown in the Wikipedia image. If Earth's west is rotating towards East then at the same time Earth's East is rotating towards West.
user31782
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-02T05:43:45.040Z
You can't rotate a rigid body in two opposite direction simultaneosly. Take an apple and rotate it. It rotates only in one direction at the same time. For Earth also there is only one direction of rotation at a time. That is from west to east.
Gemechu Fanta Garuma
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-02T06:24:07.550Z
I agree that there can be only one kind of rotation--clockwise or anticlockwise. What I am saying is that, west to east doesn't specify whether it is rotating clockwise or anti-clockwise because we can reach East from west bothways, clockwise and anticlockwise.
user31782
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-31T07:13:51.783Z
2016-01-31T07:20:11.307Z
2016-01-31T07:20:11.307Z
Gemechu Fanta Garuma
<p>You do realize, that you can only define/name your hemispheres <em>after</em> the directions are defined (and <em>how</em> they are defined) in that reference system?</p>

<p>The Earth from above the Northpole and it's rotation:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/QD7OO.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/QD7OO.png" alt="[1]"></a><br/>
For some reason, we call that "East" and it's opposite direction "West":
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/8hyKk.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/8hyKk.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br/>
Now we can pick some arbitrary point/line to slice the Earth into 2 hemispheres and name them according to which side of the slice is in which - <em>previously defined</em> - direction.<br/>
Just for fun, let's call it our "prime meridian", so everybody is clear what we are taking about.<br/>
(In the end .. it's a sphere. It has no <em>that</em> point to cut or <em>that</em> 2 hemispheres.)
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/fJwa9.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/fJwa9.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br/>
Now put that together in one picture:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/G1ZwI.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/G1ZwI.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br/>
What is the vector named the eastern hemisphere moves?<br/>
It is <strong>East</strong>. Period.</p>

<p>It doesn't matter, that at some point(s) in time the eastern hemisphere takes place, where the western hemisphere was.<br/>
You cannot change the naming of the direction without rendering the whole naming convention for your hemispheres (and thus all your assumptions) null and naught.</p>

<p>What you are trying to do is just nonsense.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-01T12:41:38.497Z
"_What is the vector named the eastern hemisphere moves?_" !!? Vectors ain't curved Period.
user31782
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-01T13:02:05.750Z
@user31782 What do you expect me to say. You cannot call the rotation "to the west", simply b/c - by definition - west means sth. different. Take it, leave it, believe us .. or don't. I'm done & don't care any longer :/
ymirsson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-01T09:00:00.640Z
2016-02-01T09:00:00.640Z
ymirsson
<p>It is said that <em>Earth rotates from west to east</em>. I take this as </p>

<blockquote>
  <p><em>Earth's western hemisphere moves towards the Eastern hemisphere when seen from the frame of reference of pole star</em>. </p>
</blockquote>

<p>Now I can also say that,</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><em>Earth's Eastern hemisphere moves towards the western hemisphere when seen from the frame of reference of pole star</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>So can't I say then Earth rotates from east to west?</p>

<p>When we say Earth rotates from west to east we don't say a point on earth moves from <em>its</em> west to <em>its</em> east. We just say Earth moves from west to East. Now what is west and East for Earth? My knee-jerk is that Earth's west means the western hemisphere. Then it is not wrong to say Earth moves from East to west as the Eastern hemisphere always move towards the western hemisphere.</p>

<p>P.S: The question was originally asked at <a href="https://gis.stackexchange.com/q/178685/66197">https://gis.stackexchange.com/q/178685/66197</a> The discussion in comments over there might be useful.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-30T05:34:12.970Z
Because east and west are defined by the rotation of the Earth?  WRT your example sentences, it's perfectly possible to say things that aren't correct :-)  Thought question: if there was a planet that didn't rotate, would it have an east or west, or FTM north or south?
jamesqf
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-30T05:46:23.203Z
@jamesqf Are the north and south pole defined w.r.t. East and west--which are defined by earth's rotation? I thought that East and west are defined w.r.t. to the north pole because North pole is defined as the pole towards the pole star.
user31782
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-30T19:42:28.437Z
No, the star Polaris is called the pole star because it just happens to be fairly close to the north celestial pole.   At this point in time, anyway: it wasn't always, and won't be a few thousand years from now.  But think of other planets: their axes point in different directions, so if they have pole stars, the star won't be Polaris.  North is defined by the right-hand rule: curl your fingers in the direction of rotation, and your thumb points north.
jamesqf
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-31T06:24:20.327Z
@jamesqf So North and south are defined by right hand screw rule then how are East and West defined by Earth's rotation? Also can you provide some reference.
user31782
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-31T06:37:48.577Z
Because east and west are defined by the rotation, as are north and south.  If you had a planet which didn't rotate at all, there'd be no way to distinguish any directions.  And no, I don't have references.  It just seems obvious.
jamesqf
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-01T05:12:34.713Z
I guess that when we say Earth moves from west to East, we mean the land surface not the planet Earth. Now East and west of a surface are obviously directions not the hemispheres.
user31782
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-01T19:23:50.513Z
The eastern and western hemispheres are nothing but arbitrary cultural descriptions.  There's nothing physical that defines them.  Not even the longitudes, which are arbitrarily defined as starting at Greenwich - if that was the case, part of Britain would be in the eastern hemisphere, part in the west.
jamesqf
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-11T00:44:39.450Z
This is really a question for EL&U! The word "East" is derived from a term meaning "dawn" (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=east) and "west" from a word meaning "evening" (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=west).
Spencer
<geography><earth-rotation>
Why do we say Earth rotates from west to east?
user31782
# Why do we say Earth rotates from west to east?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-01-30)

It is said that *Earth rotates from west to east*. I take this as

> *Earth's western hemisphere moves towards the Eastern hemisphere when seen from the frame of reference of pole star*.

Now I can also say that,

> *Earth's Eastern hemisphere moves towards the western hemisphere when seen from the frame of reference of pole star*

So can't I say then Earth rotates from east to west?

When we say Earth rotates from west to east we don't say a point on earth moves from *its* west to *its* east. We just say Earth moves from west to East. Now what is west and East for Earth? My knee-jerk is that Earth's west means the western hemisphere. Then it is not wrong to say Earth moves from East to west as the Eastern hemisphere always move towards the western hemisphere.

P.S: The question was originally asked at <https://gis.stackexchange.com/q/178685/66197> The discussion in comments over there might be useful.

**Tags:** geography, earth-rotation

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Because east and west are defined by the rotation of the Earth?  WRT your example sentences, it's perfectly possible to say things that aren't correct :-)  Thought question: if there was a planet that didn't rotate, would it have an east or west, or FTM north or south?  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Are the north and south pole defined w.r.t. East and west--which are defined by earth's rotation? I thought that East and west are defined w.r.t. to the north pole because North pole is defined as the pole towards the pole star.  
> **username_1**: No, the star Polaris is called the pole star because it just happens to be fairly close to the north celestial pole.   At this point in time, anyway: it wasn't always, and won't be a few thousand years from now.  But think of other planets: their axes point in different directions, so if they have pole stars, the star won't be Polaris.  North is defined by the right-hand rule: curl your fingers in the direction of rotation, and your thumb points north.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 So North and south are defined by right hand screw rule then how are East and West defined by Earth's rotation? Also can you provide some reference.  
> **username_1**: Because east and west are defined by the rotation, as are north and south.  If you had a planet which didn't rotate at all, there'd be no way to distinguish any directions.  And no, I don't have references.  It just seems obvious.  
> **username_0**: I guess that when we say Earth moves from west to East, we mean the land surface not the planet Earth. Now East and west of a surface are obviously directions not the hemispheres.  
> **username_1**: The eastern and western hemispheres are nothing but arbitrary cultural descriptions.  There's nothing physical that defines them.  Not even the longitudes, which are arbitrarily defined as starting at Greenwich - if that was the case, part of Britain would be in the eastern hemisphere, part in the west.  
> **username_2**: This is really a question for EL&U! The word "East" is derived from a term meaning "dawn" (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=east) and "west" from a word meaning "evening" (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=west).  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-02-13. Score: 10

Your confusion arise from the definition of East and West hemispheres. That's an arbitrary and confusing definition. Because East and West are relative directions. Meaning they depend on the position were they are specified.

East and West [come from the proto-germanic languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_direction), where East means dawn and West means evening. Therefore, East from any given point is roughly the direction at which the sunrise happen. And West is where the sunset happens.

That's why the east/west hemispheres definition is confusing, because if you are in the middle of the pacific, the Western hemisphere is towards the East... confusing.

So let's forget about East/West hemispheres, and consider the East/West cardinal directions. Where East is 90° to the right of North and West 90° to the left of North. These directions keep the original spirit, on which East points roughly to the sunrise, and West to the sunset.
Let's also forget about clockwise and counterclockwise, because that depends on where are you looking from. If you are on top of the North pole it will look like Earth is rotating counterclockwise, but from the top of the South pole it will be clockwise.

Now, when we say that Earth rotates to the East, we mean that each point on the surface is moving to the East of that point.

The following figure taken from [pulauubinstories.com](http://www.pulauubinstories.com/tag/seasons-day-spa/) will help clarifying the point:
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/3z2xk.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/3z2xk.png)

In the figure is clear that the fact that sunrise happens to the East is because we are moving in that direction. At dawn, as we move Eastwards we enter in the sunlit side of Earth, producing the sunrise. And as we keep moving Eastwards during the day, we enter in the night side of Earth, leaving the sunshine and the sunset to the West.

Therefore, as East means "dawn" it follows (basically by definition) that Earth rotates to the East.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2016-01-30. Score: 7

Imagine you can fly ignoring wind, gravitation and other forces. You are exactly on the rotation axis looking down the Earth on its North side. You'll see the Earth turning counter-clockwise. But If you look at the same but in South Hemisphere, the Earth is turning clockwise. This is just a convention and it depends on your point of view.

Nevertheless, If we look at the Earth from outside in the way that the North Pole is up and South Pole is down, you are going to see West on your left hand and East on your right hand. Always, does not matter how much you rotate. It does **not** depend on your point of view.

All this works as long as we set the North Pole up and West is always on its left. It is illustrtated in [this gif](https://goo.gl/gPKoX9).

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: Earth also rotates west to east on the southern hemisphere. This is not a convention.  
> **username_6**: Agree with username_5.  username_4's example works just as well if you're flying above the equator, no matter which way is "up" for you.  
> **username_4**: You are right. Edited.  
> **username_0**: But even by looking from above the north pole Earth's Eastern hemisphere moves towards the western hemisphere. That is Earth rotates from east to west.  
> **username_1**: @username_0: Not unless you're looking on a timescale long enough to involve plate tectonics.  On human timescales, the surface of the Earth is fixed.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 I don't mean that the land of hemisphere slides; I mean as the Earth rotates the Eastern hemisphere also rotates and after 12 hours comes where the western hemisphere was.  
> **username_1**: @username_0: Err... Yes, that's the definition of rotation, isn't it?  And the direction of rotation is East, by definition.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 I got your point that East is the direction to which any point on the surface moves. But I don't understand the line _Earth rotates from west to east_. Does Earth here mean the whole globe or the land surface? If it means the land surface then that's ok but if it means the whole globe then it doesn't make sense.  
> **username_7**: @username_0 Have you ever played with a spinning top? This is the same thing, man. It either rotates in one way or another, the direction doesn't change because of how you've defined your hemispheres. _From west to east_ is rather arbitrary, but if you want to avoid that you'd have to define the vector of the angular velocity, but that's just silly.  
> **username_0**: @username_7   I agree that there can be only one kind of rotation--clockwise or anticlockwise. What I am saying is that, west to east doesn't specify whether it is rotating clockwise or anti-clockwise because we can reach East from west bothways, clockwise and anticlockwise.  
> **username_7**: @username_0 good point. As username_4 says, it all summarises (as most conventions) is the fact that we are close minded and think everyone lives in Europe and the North is *up*; if you take that as your reference points, that's the most visual way to describe the Earth's rotation.  
> **username_8**: _"What I am saying is that, west to east doesn't specify whether it is rotating clockwise or anti-clockwise"_ No it doesn't - b/c it doesn't have to. That's the whole point!  clock-/counterclockwise aren't fundamental standard-names for _every_ rotation - you are using the nomenclature from a second system & an arbitrary viewpoint to reference your initial system.  Which you don't have to do, if your initial system possess it's own definition .. _and thus where born the cardinal directions_.  "East" for "Earth" is basically a similar thing as "clockwise" for your clock (or rather the pointer).  

---

### Answer by username_9 on 2016-01-31. Score: 6

The Earth rotates from west to east or counter-clockwise. You can do simple experiment. put your face towards the polar star and stretch your hands. Your head shows North (towards polar star) and your left hand points towards west, your right hand points towards east and your back head points towards South. The sun rises in the East - from the direction of your right hand and sets in the west - towards your left hand. Assume the sun is fixed in space because with respect to the Earth rotation speed the Sun's rotation is very small. Hence it is the Earth which is rotating and is the reason for sunrise and sunset. If the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, then the Earth should rotate in the opposite direction from west to east (anti-clockwise).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Then my right hand is the East of Earth and the left hand is west of Earth. Now since the Earth is rotating counter-clock wise my right hand is rotating towards left that is Earth's East is rotating towards Earth's west. So doesn't it mean that Earth rotates from east to west.  
> **username_9**: I know what you mean. Your axis of rotation determines that. According to your assumption the axis of rotation is perpendicular to longitude lines. That is why you thought it wrongly. The axis of rotation of the Earth is from North to South with a little tilt - obliquity. You can look at this example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation#/media/File:AxialTiltObliquity.png  
> **username_0**: I am taking the axis of rotation just as shown in the Wikipedia image. If Earth's west is rotating towards East then at the same time Earth's East is rotating towards West.  
> **username_9**: You can't rotate a rigid body in two opposite direction simultaneosly. Take an apple and rotate it. It rotates only in one direction at the same time. For Earth also there is only one direction of rotation at a time. That is from west to east.  
> **username_0**: I agree that there can be only one kind of rotation--clockwise or anticlockwise. What I am saying is that, west to east doesn't specify whether it is rotating clockwise or anti-clockwise because we can reach East from west bothways, clockwise and anticlockwise.  

---

### Answer by username_8 on 2016-02-01. Score: 4

You do realize, that you can only define/name your hemispheres *after* the directions are defined (and *how* they are defined) in that reference system?

The Earth from above the Northpole and it's rotation:
[![[1]](https://i.sstatic.net/QD7OO.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/QD7OO.png)  
For some reason, we call that "East" and it's opposite direction "West":
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/8hyKk.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/8hyKk.png)  
Now we can pick some arbitrary point/line to slice the Earth into 2 hemispheres and name them according to which side of the slice is in which - *previously defined* - direction.  
Just for fun, let's call it our "prime meridian", so everybody is clear what we are taking about.  
(In the end .. it's a sphere. It has no *that* point to cut or *that* 2 hemispheres.)
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/fJwa9.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/fJwa9.png)  
Now put that together in one picture:
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/G1ZwI.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/G1ZwI.png)  
What is the vector named the eastern hemisphere moves?  
It is **East**. Period.

It doesn't matter, that at some point(s) in time the eastern hemisphere takes place, where the western hemisphere was.  
You cannot change the naming of the direction without rendering the whole naming convention for your hemispheres (and thus all your assumptions) null and naught.

What you are trying to do is just nonsense.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: "_What is the vector named the eastern hemisphere moves?_" !!? Vectors ain't curved Period.  
> **username_8**: @username_0 What do you expect me to say. You cannot call the rotation "to the west", simply b/c - by definition - west means sth. different. Take it, leave it, believe us .. or don't. I'm done & don't care any longer :/  

---

