<p>No, the planet orbits do not have their major axis aligned.</p>

<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_elements">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_elements</a></p>

<p>You have <strong>Inclination</strong> and <strong>Longitude of the ascending node</strong> defining the plane, and <strong>Argument of periapsis</strong> defining the ellipse orientation in that plane.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-07T06:50:35.233Z
Where is the reference for your answer?
Py-ser
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-07T12:01:01.650Z
Which kind of reference do you want?
Envite
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-08T04:26:37.250Z
A scientific one? Everyone is good to say: No, the planet orbits do not have their major axis aligned. But  astronomy is based upon observations. So where is the study that shows that?
Py-ser
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-10T14:39:53.953Z
Orbital elements "Inclination", "Longitude of the ascending node" and "Argument of periapsis" would not be necessary if the planets orbits were coplanar and alligned, isn't it? Planets would always be over the ecliptic in sky if their orbits were coplanar, isn't it? There would be no precession of the perihelion of Mercury as predicted by General Relativity if major axis were aligned, isn't it? Just go out of the shell and see.
Envite
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-02T04:03:12.627Z
I'd say Envite's explanation of terms and link to Wikipedia's orbital elements page is sufficient. Then a planet's "ascending node" and "argument of perihelion" could be found on a planet's Wikipedia page. For example Mars ascending node is 49.562º and argument of perihelion is 286.54º. See the right side of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars under the heading Orbital Characteristics
HopDavid
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-07T06:19:54.153Z
2014-03-07T06:19:54.153Z
Envite
<p>I'm working on a planetary motion simulator. I've been working through the equations anomaly, eccentricity, etc. The one thing I'm curious about is if all the ellipses are oriented the exact same way (the direction of the periapsis of all planets are pointing the same way), or is it different for each planet?</p>

<p>What would this be called? I've only seen eccentricity and inclination.</p>

<orbit><planet>
What is the orientation of planetary orbits?
Axiverse
# What is the orientation of planetary orbits?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-03-07)

I'm working on a planetary motion simulator. I've been working through the equations anomaly, eccentricity, etc. The one thing I'm curious about is if all the ellipses are oriented the exact same way (the direction of the periapsis of all planets are pointing the same way), or is it different for each planet?

What would this be called? I've only seen eccentricity and inclination.

**Tags:** orbit, planet


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-03-07. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

No, the planet orbits do not have their major axis aligned.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_elements>

You have **Inclination** and **Longitude of the ascending node** defining the plane, and **Argument of periapsis** defining the ellipse orientation in that plane.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Where is the reference for your answer?  
> **username_1**: Which kind of reference do you want?  
> **username_2**: A scientific one? Everyone is good to say: No, the planet orbits do not have their major axis aligned. But  astronomy is based upon observations. So where is the study that shows that?  
> **username_1**: Orbital elements "Inclination", "Longitude of the ascending node" and "Argument of periapsis" would not be necessary if the planets orbits were coplanar and alligned, isn't it? Planets would always be over the ecliptic in sky if their orbits were coplanar, isn't it? There would be no precession of the perihelion of Mercury as predicted by General Relativity if major axis were aligned, isn't it? Just go out of the shell and see.  
> **username_3**: I'd say username_1's explanation of terms and link to Wikipedia's orbital elements page is sufficient. Then a planet's "ascending node" and "argument of perihelion" could be found on a planet's Wikipedia page. For example Mars ascending node is 49.562º and argument of perihelion is 286.54º. See the right side of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars under the heading Orbital Characteristics  

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