Conference hydra::dejavu

    Pardon my ignorance, and I do admit to it in this instance, and I
    realize this is probably not the Notes conference to be asking, but...
    Do the planets of our sun all orbit the sun in the same plane? If so,
    is that plane parallel to the sun's equator? Or does each planet orbit
    in its own unique plane other than (possibly) parallel to the equator?
    
    --Just another one of those things one wonders about upon waking in the
    morning...
    
    Thanks,
    
    Ken

    .0, .1

    check out note 292 in the DECWET::PHYSICS notes file too
    for a pointer to a neat simulator of our solar system, it is a 
    dynamic simulator, you can set it to run and set back and look
    at how the planets and all the other heavenly bodies on the solar
    system travel.

    .1
    the planets (mercury,Venus,earth,mars) make the first half, the close
    ones to the sun, while (Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune,Pluto) make the
    rest that are the furthest away. (big gap in distance between mars and 
    Jupiter).

    now you are right in saying the planets , for all practical reason
    revolve in the same 2 dimensional plan, think of it like this, imagine
    each planet orbit is a circle not an ellipse, but put the sun no on the
    center of the circle, but shifted off the center, make it easier
    to visualize that is all.

    one interesting thing is this: start with 0,1, then double each next
    number, so you get

    0,1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128
    now multiply each number by 3 , we get
    0,3,6,12,24,48,96,192,384
    add 4 to each number, we get
    4,7,10,16,28,52,100,196,388

    so, what you say? well, assign each number in order to the planet
    as they are order from the sun out, so we have

 SUN    mercury  Venus earth mars Jupiter Saturn  Uranus Neptune  Pluto
          4        7    10    16     28      52     100     196     388

    you see what the numbers are? they are the relative distance from the
    sun ! i.e assume the distance of the earth away from the sun is 10 (we
    made it nice rounded number) then you can find what the distance of every 
    other planet from the sun and from each others are using this distance.

    this was discovered long time ago... and every planet that got
    discovered since then fill into the right slot, now if there is a
    10th planet out there, i'd say it will be reltive-distance of 772 away!
    very far away...
    
    /nasser
    
    

    I think that you will find that the orbit of Pluto, the most highly
    eccentric of all the planets such that it takes it inside the orbit of
    Neptune, is also in another plane. So a 2 dimensional view doesn't work
    too well for it.

    Jamie.

    Jamie's right.  I like the suggested cause in _World_of_Ptaavs_ by
    Larry Niven, but a passing meteor or comet is far and away more
    likely.
    
    Nasser has forgotten the asteroid belt.  It occupies one of those
    mathematical positions, and the presumed gap there led to the famous
    comment, "Inter Martem et Jovem, planetem interposo.".  The `missing'
    planet is called Lucifer.
    
    						Ann B.

But the plane of pluto is, nevertheless, quite close
to the others. Does anyone know the angular difference?

Don't forget the idea that the sun and planets all 'condensed'
out a rotating disc of gas was suggested by the 
observation that the planets are all roughly in the
same plane and rotating in the same direction.
Also note the model also handles the larger sizes
of the 'middle' planets and their composition.

John D.

    >Does anyone know the angular difference?
               
    A bit over 17� this is well above the next highest Mercury at 7�.
    These figures assume that earth is at 0�. 

    Given its angular inclination, eccentric orbit and its density it could
    be a huge ball of ice and rock that was captured by the sun's gravity
    field and may not originally been part of the solar system at all.

    Jamie.

    Thanks all for your responses to .1. Please recommend a Notes
    conference on platets/solar system and I'll leave you folks alone!
    8>)
    
    
    Ken

    Oh don't worry Ken we have fairly catholic tastes in here.

    Jamie.

    
    RE: .7
    
    Thanks for entering that Marcos.  I've been reading a lot about Nibiru
    theories lately so there is another synchronicity! ;^)
    
    Just a small correction...Pluto's moon is Charon, not Chiron.
    
    Carole