I've seen some maps of the Milky Way, and the mapmakers usually don't bother to orient it. When we see it from the Galactic North Pole, does it look like something that is rotating clockwise or counterclockwise?
The normal direction of rotation is in the sense that the spiral arms would seem to be winding up tighter, e.g.:
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(Try looking at that in a fixed-width font.)
However, there's at least one spiral galaxy which apparently rotates "backwards":
<<http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2002/release_2002_33.html>>
[I guess the spiral arms would rotate faster closer to the center]
No!
<<http://aether.lbl.gov/www/projects/neutrino/agn/rotation_curve.html>>
In fact, the fact that the rotation curve is nearly flat is one of the main reasons astronomers must assume the existence of dark matter:
<<http://www.astro.utu.fi/~cflynn/rotcve.html>>
-- Ronn! :)
Ronn Blankenship Instructor of Astronomy/Planetary Science University of Montevallo Montevallo, AL
Disclaimer: Unless specifically stated otherwise, any opinions contained herein are the personal opinions of the author and do not represent the official position of the University of Montevallo.
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