No up and down in space?

Question

If we think of the sun's equator, and extend a 2 dimensional plane out from this equator, will the equators of all the other planets in the solar system line up with this plane? I know there is no up or down in space, but I can imagine a "North of the equator" and "South of the equator" in 3 dimensional space in the solar system and think that it is strange that all solar sytem models show the planet's orbits in a flat plane with relationship to the sun's equator. Do some planets in fact revolve around the sun at angle's that do not follow this equatorial plane? I hope I have made myself clear enough?

Thanks,
Joe

Answer 1

Not exactly, but approximately. The plane of the Earth's orbit is called the ecliptic, and it is inclined 7 degrees to the plane of the Sun's equator, but since we live on Earth, the plane of the ecliptic is considered the zero point which makes the Sun's equator inclined 7 degrees. Most of the planets orbit very close to the plane of the ecliptic, so the solar system is really flat. The orbit of Mercury is inclined the most (formerly the second most) of any planet, 7 degrees to the ecliptic. The orbit of Pluto is inclined more than Mercury or any other planet, 17 degrees, which is one of the reasons for not considering it a planet.

Answer 2

All planets are approximately in the equatorial plane.
The reason for this strange coincidence is that the material was already rotating while our solar system was formed.

Wikipedia: Most objects in orbit round the Sun lie within the same shallow plane, called the ecliptic, which is roughly parallel to the Sun's equator. The planets lie very close to the ecliptic, ...

Answer 3

Yes, all the planets are known to deviate from the sun's equatorial plane, but only by a few degrees. Mercury has the most (7 degrees).

Pluto's orbit is inclined a whopping 17 degrees, which is part of the reason it got demoted to "Kuiper Belt Object" status.

Answer 4

No, the planets equators do not line up with the sun.Think of Uranus.It's on it's side so it's equator is "up".So no, the planets do not line up with the Sun.And besides, some planets orbit not around the sun in the same way.

Answer 5

No up or down, back or forth, over or under, around or through, in or out, start or stop. When you get out there, you ain't comin back. So shut up and eat your oatmeal.