3 ms·

All of the planets orbit the sun on approximately the same plane (since we started as a swirling pancake of gas and dust that eventually snowballed into planets

All of the planets orbit the sun on approximately the same plane (since we started as a swirling pancake of gas and dust that eventually snowballed into planets, and then you and me). It looks like this: https://media.nationalgeographic.org/assets/photos/000/285/28546.jpg https://media.nationalgeographic.org/assets/photos/000/285/2... If the orbital plane was a surface of water and the northern hemisphere is bobbing above the water, then up is perpendicular to the plane (away from the water, looking down on the top of Earth).

detritus 5y ago
I can't believe I was {HOWEVER OLD I AM NOW} when I learnt that the Moon is 'upside down' when seen from the Southern Hemisphere. I mean, of course it would be - but I'd never made that deductive leap. Made me feel like a fool, especially given I made my at-the-time pregnant partner crease her nose in not-quite-credulous but also sorta-believing suspicion when I told her that the Japanese don't see a Man in the Moon, rather a Rabbit, because on that side of the Earth they see the opposite side of the moon. I could only maintain the pretense for a few minutes before she scolded me :)
- eesmith 5y ago
  It was odd to see Orion doing a handstand! And I got lost on a car trip, thinking the midday Sun was in the south. Good thing I was a back-seat passenger.