Plane of the ecliptic

The plane of the ecliptic

Ecliptic

The ecliptic is the plane of the earth's orbit around the sun. In more accurate terms, it is the intersection of the celestial sphere with the ecliptic plane, which is the geometric plane containing the mean orbit of the Earth around the Sun...

(also known as the ecliptic plane) is the plane

Plane (mathematics)

In mathematics, a plane is a flat, two-dimensional surface. A plane is the two dimensional analogue of a point , a line and a space...

 of the Earth's

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

 orbit around the Sun

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

. It is the primary reference plane when describing the position of bodies in the Solar System, with celestial latitude being measured relative to the ecliptic plane. In the course of a year, the Sun's apparent path through the sky lies in this plane. The planetary bodies of our Solar System

Solar System

The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...

 all tend to lie near this plane, since they were formed from the Sun's spinning, flattened, protoplanetary disk

Protoplanetary disk

A protoplanetary disk is a rotating circumstellar disk of dense gas surrounding a young newly formed star, a T Tauri star, or Herbig Ae/Be star...

.

The ecliptic plane was so named because a solar eclipse

Solar eclipse

As seen from the Earth, a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun as viewed from a location on Earth. This can happen only during a new moon, when the Sun and the Moon are in conjunction as seen from Earth. At least...

 can only occur when the Moon

Moon

The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

 crosses this plane. Its position changes over time, so must be accompanied by an epoch

Epoch (astronomy)

In astronomy, an epoch is a moment in time used as a reference point for some time-varying astronomical quantity, such as celestial coordinates, or elliptical orbital elements of a celestial body, where these are subject to perturbations and vary with time...

, usually defined as 1950.0 or 2000.0. The ecliptic plane and the celestial equator

Celestial equator

The celestial equator is a great circle on the imaginary celestial sphere, in the same plane as the Earth's equator. In other words, it is a projection of the terrestrial equator out into space...

 intersect each other in two diametrical imaginary points called the vernal and autumnal equinox

Equinox

An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator...

es. As of 2005, it is at an angle of 23°27’ to the celestial equator, while the inclination of the lunar orbit is approximately five degrees and nine minutes.

By definition, the plane of the ecliptic and the plane of Earth's orbit are the same, and are not fixed or constant. The position of the plane of the ecliptic relative to the invariable plane

Invariable plane

The invariable plane of a planetary system, also called Laplace's invariable plane, is the plane passing through its barycenter perpendicular to its angular momentum vector. In the Solar System, about 98% of this effect is contributed by the orbital angular momenta of the four jovian planets...

 is altered by gravitational perturbations of the other planets, thus changing the celestial ecliptic and the pole of the ecliptic. The latitude of the stars also change, as the plane of the ecliptic varies in degrees. The positions of stars may be defined relative to either the plane of the ecliptic or the plane of the Earth's equator

Equator

An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....

.

Earth's axial tilt

Axial tilt

In astronomy, axial tilt is the angle between an object's rotational axis, and a line perpendicular to its orbital plane...

 is constant relative to the invariable plane, that is, relative to inertial space (precession does not change the tilt)—it changes because the ecliptic moves as much as three degrees relative to the invariable plane over tens of thousands of years.