b>ecliptic coordinate system is a celestial coordinate system commonly used for representing the positions and orbits of Solar System objects. Because most planets (except Mercury), and many small solar system bodies have orbits with small inclinations to the ecliptic, it is convenient to use it as the fundamental plane. The system's origin can be either the center of the Sun or the center of the Earth, its primary direction is towards the vernal equinox, and it has a right-handed convention. It may be implemented in spherical or rectangular coordinates.
Read more about Ecliptic Coordinate System: Primary Direction, Spherical Coordinates
Famous quotes containing the word system:
“The North American system only wants to consider the positive aspects of reality. Men and women are subjected from childhood to an inexorable process of adaptation; certain principles, contained in brief formulas are endlessly repeated by the press, the radio, the churches, and the schools, and by those kindly, sinister beings, the North American mothers and wives. A person imprisoned by these schemes is like a plant in a flowerpot too small for it: he cannot grow or mature.”
—Octavio Paz (b. 1914)