Solar system models suggest that the comets initially formed near the ecliptic and were later scattered in the other orbits through gravitational interactions, particularly interactions with gas ...

Technically then, the ecliptic represents the extension or projection of the plane of the Earth's orbit out towards the sky.

While Voyager 1’s mission has been to explore the outer solar system, researchers could tweak a similar flight path to launch a satellite above the ecliptic plane to image the solar system. In ...

A study of comet motions indicates that the Solar System has a second alignment plane. Analytical investigation of the orbits of long-period comets shows that the aphelia of the comets, the point ...

A study of comet motions indicates that the Solar System has a second alignment plane. Analytical investigation of the orbits of long-period comets shows that the aphelia of the comets, the point ...

The sun's south pole has been seen for the first time from outside the ecliptic plane in unprecedented images sent back to Earth by a solar orbiter. The Solar Orbiter spacecraft travelled 15 degrees ...

Ecliptic Plane These alignments occur due to the planets' shared orbit along the ecliptic plane, a cosmic arrangement dating back to the Solar System’s formation.

If it were exactly in the ecliptic plane, we’d have eclipses every month. Instead, the Laplacian plane precesses with an 18-year period, which produces more complex eclipse cycles.