In the Solar system, most bodies orbit in a similar (prograde) direction to the rotation of the Sun. All planets and most smaller bodies orbit the Sun counterclockwise as seen from a position above the Sun's north pole. The exceptions are mostly comets, which generally have highly disturbed orbits.

Similarly, the larger and closer moons orbit their planets in the same direction as the planets' rotation, and so are also prograde. However, the gas giant planets have large numbers of small "irregular" moons in highly inclined or elliptical orbits, thought to be captured asteroids or Kuiper belt objects (or fragments thereof), and the majority of these are instead retrograde: 48 retrograde to 7 prograde for Jupiter, 18 to 8 for Saturn, and 8 to 1 for Uranus. One of the largest of these is the Saturnian moon Phoebe. Neptune is somewhat different: It seems to have captured its only surviving large moon, the retrograde but otherwise regular Triton, from the Kuiper Belt. The six irregular moons beyond Triton's orbit are evenly divided between prograde and retrograde; some of these may be original Neptunian moons whose orbits were disturbed by Triton's capture, rather than being captured bodies themselves.