Question

Planets revolve in which direction?

Answer 1

Hint:The most salient feature of our solar system is that nearly all of the revolutions and rotations are in the same direction. From some extent high above the North Pole of the system the planets are revolving about the sun and rotating about their axes in a counter-clockwise direction. This holds true also for the asteroids.

Complete answer:
The planets and also the Sun appear to move elliptically. The sun itself also rotates in a counter-clockwise direction. The satellites of the planets also generally revolve and rotate in a counter-clockwise direction.The planets do not exactly imitate the elliptical path but remain quite close to it.

Unlike the Sun, the planets don't always make steady progress along the ecliptic. They usually move within the same direction, but from time to time they appear to hamper, stop and reverse direction. This is retrograde motion. Retrograde motion is an illusion created once we observe other planets from the moving planet Earth.

It is easier to understand the retrograde motion of the inner planets like Mercury and Venus.These planets are closer to the Sun than the Earth and orbit the Sun faster. From our perspective, the Sun moves slowly along the elliptic while Mercury and Venus run rings around the Sun. So at some times, we see these planets moving in the same direction as the Sun, while at other times we see them moving in the opposite direction.

For the outer planets like Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and others the reason is quite different. These planets are further from the Sun than we are, they orbit the Sun more slowly than we do. From time to time we pass one among these planets, and when that happens, the earth seems to be moving backwards because we're moving faster than it's . At such times we naturally see the Sun and therefore the planet in opposite parts of the sky. The planet is then said to be in opposition to the Sun.

Note:Venus and possibly Uranus are the exceptions to the counter-clockwise rotations of the planets. Venus travels round the sun once every $225$ Earth days but it rotates clockwise once every $243$ days. This peculiar combination gives it each day with reference to the sun of $117$ Earth days. Uranus is tilted on its side about so its direction of rotation is arguable. Its angle of inclination is usually given as which would mean that its direction of rotation is not retrograde.