Hey. I've heard it said that stars rotate clockwise in the northern hemisphere, and anti clockwise in the southern hemisphere. How does this work? I've tried to look up explanations as to why this would be the case, but all the answers just confuse me!
You have the directions reversed. Circumpolar stars appear to rotate counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere, but the idea behind that statement is correct.
That's a pretty good question, and it can be confusing. Let me try:
Say you have a bicycle wheel mounted on a horizontal axle spinning in some direction. If you look at it from one side, it appears to be spinning clockwise, but if you look at it from the other, even though it's physically spinning the same direction as before, it appears to be spinning counterclockwise. Why? You've turned around, and are looking at opposite sides of the same spinning object. From one side, a point near the top of the wheel is moving from your left to your right (clockwise), but by turning around to look at the other side, a point near the top would be moving from your right to your left (counterclockwise).
That's the basic principle, but it may not be obvious how it applies to your question. If it's still not clear, consider, now, two discs or wheels mounted on a common axle, both spinning in the same direction. If you stand somewhere beyond the end of the axle and look at both at the same time, you will see both are spinning in the same direction, clockwise or counterclockwise. If you stand between them and look at one, it appears to be spinning clockwise from your vantage point. If you turn around and look at the other, it will appear to be spinning counterclockwise, for the same reason as above - because you've turned around.
Now, instead of midway between two rotating discs, consider that you're standing near the center of a large rotating sphere. If you look at one pole (where the axis of rotation intersects the sphere), it will be rotating clockwise from your vantage point. If you turn around and look at the other pole, it will be rotating counterclockwise from that same vantage point, but you've had to turn around. Consider a circle around each of the poles to be equivalent to the rims of the two wheels in the second example.
Clear as mud?