I am going to ask an odd question, It is: In most of the images of our solar system we see that the planets are arranged in a straight line. As the paths of the planets are elliptical, could it be possible for planets be arranged other than in straight line (a bit up and down) ?
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What do you mean by straight line? – This Play Name Jan 02 '16 at 05:06
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I mean, when we place them side by side, every image place them on a straight line. Are they really in a straight line like it ? – ni8mr Jan 02 '16 at 05:08
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Do you mean are planets always positioned like this? – This Play Name Jan 02 '16 at 05:12
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@ThisPlayName yes ! – ni8mr Jan 02 '16 at 05:19
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No, http://image.slidesharecdn.com/solarsystemppt-090814100212-phpapp02/95/solar-system-ppt-1-728.jpg?cb=1250244219 and http://www.dbriers.com/tutorials/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/SolarSystem-660x330.jpg are more like what occurs in real life. – Jan 02 '16 at 06:13
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@barrycarter I know about this. What i am asking is that, is Earth is above Mars (taking case of position) or something like that ? Or they are perfectly in a straight line ? It is kind of silly question though, cause it doesn't have any importance. I am just curious. – ni8mr Jan 02 '16 at 06:29
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OK, I understand what you're saying. The planets aren't all exactly in a flat plane, but they are pretty close. See http://www.aoi.com.au/bcw1/Cosmic/OblongAtomSolarSystem.jpg http://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/130/why-do-the-planets-in-our-solar-system-orbit-in-the-same-plane https://www.quora.com/Why-are-most-planet-orbits-in-our-solar-system-on-relatively-the-same-2D-plane – Jan 02 '16 at 06:35
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Pluto (though no longer a planet) is the most tilted off the plane. Mercury the 2nd most. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_inclination and, not really what you asked, but related and a fun little video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmNXKqeUtJM – userLTK Jan 03 '16 at 01:11
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It seems you are reffering to what we know as the "ecplitic". This is the plain where the orbits of all the planets usually are. Of course they are never in a perfect "straight" line. If you for example look at mars (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars), you can see under "Inclination" how far away its orbit is from the ecliptic. – RononDex Jan 03 '16 at 13:30
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The orbits of the planets are coplanar (in the same plane) because supposedly during the Solar System's formation, the planets formed out of a disk of dust (ha, ha) which surrounded the Sun. Because it was a disk, all in one plane, all of the planets formed in that one lousy plane as well.
Single rings and disks are common in astronomy. Jupiter's moons are coplanar too.
The common explanation is that orbits are unstable and they all eventually tend to get into the same plane and stay there. Wouldn't it be fun to have a planet orbiting the Sun at a right angle to the other planet's orbits? You'd never know when the damn thing's going to hit what.
Ricky
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1As a note, comets frequently have high inclination (and highly elliptical) orbits, and they do occasionally crash into stuff. – Jan 02 '16 at 16:46
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@barrycarter: Yeah, well, Jupiter is rumored to be on the lookout for those. – Ricky Jan 04 '16 at 11:31
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Only 8 of Jupiter's moons are coplanar: the 4 Galilean moons and the 4 inferior moons. The other ~60 (all superior to Callisto) are at least 25 degrees out of plane. Their eccentricities are rather large, too: >0.2 for most of them. – Bill N Jan 05 '16 at 06:22
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@BillN: What's 25 degrees among friends. It's still in keeping with the general idea. 80 or 90 would be something. – Ricky Jan 05 '16 at 06:38
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@Ricky: Have you ever been on a boat tilting at 25 degrees or tried to climb a 25 degree inclined plane? It's a pretty dramatic angle. Pluto is "only" 17 degrees. – Bill N Jan 05 '16 at 06:45
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@BillN: 1. No. 2. Yes. Dramatic, not so much. And anyway, between Jupiter's gravity and that of the Sun, they will eventually see reason and line up properly. – Ricky Jan 05 '16 at 06:59