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petrushkagoogol
- 28
- 4
Are all planets in our Solar System in the same plane ?
Less than once per year for Venus: Both Earth and Venus orbit in the same direction, so Venus always has to "catch up". The closest approach happens every 584 days (+- a few days). For Mercury it happens every 116 days on average.rootone said:These faster moving planets make their closest approach to Earth at least once every Earth year, at which point they are positioned between the Earth and Sun.
The same plane refers to the orbital plane of the planets, which is the flat, disk-shaped area in which they orbit around the Sun.
No, not all planets are in the exact same orbital plane. However, they are all relatively close to each other and fall within a few degrees of the same plane.
The planets in our Solar System formed from a rotating disk of gas and dust around the young Sun. This disk eventually flattened out into a plane, and as the planets formed from this disk, they also ended up in the same plane.
Yes, the formation of the Solar System and the gravitational forces between the planets and the Sun caused them to end up in the same plane. This is known as the "conservation of angular momentum."
Yes, there are a few exceptions. Some dwarf planets, such as Pluto, have highly inclined orbits that deviate significantly from the orbital plane of the other planets. Additionally, some moons also have inclined orbits. However, the majority of objects in our Solar System still fall within the same plane.