Why does the night sky appear to move slowly even though the earth is rotating at 1,000mph?

Question

Why does the night sky appear to move slowly even though the earth is rotating at 1,000mph?

In: Earth Science

Answer 1

Think about the hands of a clock. The closer to the center, the less distance the arm travels compared to the point of the hand, we know this because the circumference at the center is smaller than the outer edge, but the hand moves the same overall degree. While we are spinning at 0.0007 rpm(or .252 degrees per minute, pull out the protractor), the stars do not. So every degree we spin, the stars will appear to move. The reality is we aren’t watching the stars move, but realizing the shift in our own point of origin in comparison to rest of the universe.