Nexium's got the gist of it.<br /><br />Due to conservation of angular momentum solar systems within a spinning galaxy are going to tend to align themselves with the spin axis of the galaxy. I.e. there is a tendancy for the systems to rotate the same way, and be aligned similarly.<br /><br />This doesn't mean they're in perfect alignment (as mentioned, our system is at a 45 degree incline) or that they all point in the same general direction. Some will rotate "backwards" or at a severe 90 angle. But there should be an "overall" tendancy towards alignment.<br /><br />The mechanism is much the same as the one that causes our planets to behave in such a way (all but venus spin the same way). However, on a galactic scale it isn't as strong of a selection effect, and so the overall trend is far more random than in our solar system.<br /><br />Galaxies, as nexium pointed out, show no net alignment when sampled over the entire sky. This indicates that there is likely no "net" spin to the universe. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p align="center"><font color="#c0c0c0"><br /></font></p><p align="center"><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">--------</font></em></font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">--------</font></em></font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">----</font></em></font><font color="#666699">SaiphMOD@gmail.com </font><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">-------------------</font></em></font></p><p><font color="#999999"><em><font size="1">"This is my Timey Wimey Detector. Goes "bing" when there's stuff. It also fries eggs at 30 paces, wether you want it to or not actually. I've learned to stay away from hens: It's not pretty when they blow" -- </font></em></font><font size="1" color="#999999">The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>