Orbit (Axis) Inclination

Orbital (Axis) inclination is a term that indicates how much the orbit of a planet or other celestial body is inclined with respect to the ecliptic (the plane drawn by the celestial body around the Sun's orbit). We can also say that it is the angle difference between the plane formed by the celestial body as it rotates around its own axis and the plane formed by the equator as it rotates around the Sun.

The Earth's orbital inclination is the angle between the Earth's equatorial plane and the Earth's plane around the Sun, approximately 23.27 degrees. This inclination plays an important role in the formation of Earth's seasons, because the seasons are based on the relationship between the Earth's inclination to the Sun and the Sun's position above the Earth.

There are various reasons for the tilt in celestial bodies. These tilts can occur while planets are forming, or newly formed planets can tilt their orbits due to gravitational interaction or collision with neighboring planets and other large celestial bodies.

For example , the reason for the Earth's axial tilt is thought to be the collision of the planet Theia, which is the size of Mars and which also formed the Moon. It is believed that Theia (Greek Goddess) was the twin of the Earth in the early stages of its formation and that a later collision caused the axial tilt. The idea that the Earth's core is much larger than it should be and that the mantles and cores of the two planets merged during the collision supports this theory.

• Mercury: It is a planet with almost no axial tilt of 2 degrees. The orbital motion of the planet, which rotates around itself in 58 Earth days, could not be fully explained until Albert Einstein explained his theory of general relativity.

• Venus: The axial tilt is 177 degrees. That is, the north pole is actually the south pole, so in some places the axial tilt is written as 3.4 degrees. Venus actually rotates in the same direction as the other planets, but later a celestial body that could be considered a planet hit Venus and reversed the axial tilt by about 180 degrees, giving the impression that Venus continues to rotate in the same direction, but the axial tilt changes, giving the impression that it rotates in the opposite direction compared to the other planets. Another theory is that the Sun's gravity causes this. It also rotates on its own axis in 243 Earth days.

• Earth: Orbital inclination is approximately 23.27 degrees. It rotates on its axis in 23 hours and 56 minutes.

• Mars: It has an axial tilt of 25.19 degrees, the reason for which is considered to be a celestial body the size of Pluto that collided with it 4 billion years ago . Mars also experiences seasons similar to those on Earth. Its rotation period is also very close to Earth.

• Jupiter: The orbital inclination is about 3.1 degrees. That is, the planet rotates on its axis almost perpendicular to the Ecliptic, so it has no seasons. This giant planet also rotates on its axis in about 10 hours.

• Saturn: The orbital inclination is about 26.7 degrees, although it is long, it has seasons. This gas giant also rotates on its own axis in about 11 hours.

• Uranus: It is a sideways planet, its axis tilt is 97.8 degrees. The first possible explanation for this is the same as Venus, a celestial body approximately twice the size of Earth collided with the surface of Uranus, causing the planet's axis tilt to change. However, recent research also shows that this could be caused by a large number of smaller bodies colliding continuously. It also rotates on its own axis in about 17 hours.

• Neptune: The first celestial body to be found by calculations before it was observed, Neptune's orbital inclination is about 28.3 degrees, although it can be said that seasons occur, but since it is so far from the sun, there is not much difference between the seasons. This planet also rotates around its own axis in about 16 hours.