Ecliptic latitude is one of the co-ordinates which can be used to define the location of an astronomical object on the celestial sphere in ecliptic coordinates. In this system, the celestial sphere is divided into two hemispheres by the plane of the ecliptic, or the plane of the earth's orbit. From the perspective of the earth, the sun travels in the ecliptic and always has ecliptic latitude of 0. The ecliptic latitude is the angle north or south of the ecliptic analogous to how terrestrial latitude is the angular position on the earth north or south of the equator. The planets tend to have low ecliptic latitude; they are always within a few degrees of the ecliptic with the exception of Pluto. Most other objects in the solar system: asteroids, comets, and dust are also at low ecliptic latitude. See lists of astronomical objects for a list of the various lists of astronomical objects in Wikipedia. ... In astronomy and navigation, the celestial sphere is an imaginary rotating sphere of gigantic radius, concentric with the Earth. ... The ecliptic coordinate system is a celestial coordinate system that uses the ecliptic for its fundamental plane. ... The term hemisphere is used in three different meanings: one-half of the Earth (or other planetary or stellar body; see also New World and Old World) Eastern Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere. ... The plane of the Ecliptic is well seen in this picture from the 1994 lunar prospecting Clementine spacecraft. ... Notes One of the most successful arcade games; Developed during the Golden Age of Arcade Games; According to KLOV the #7 most popular game of all times Asteroids is a popular vector-based video arcade game released in 1979 by Atari. ... Comet Hale-Bopp, showing a white dust tail and blue gas tail (February 1997) A comet is a small astronomical object similar to an asteroid but composed largely of ice. ... Dust is a general name for minute solid particles of diameters less than 500 micrometers (otherwise see sand or granulates) and, more generally, for finely divided matter. ...
The ecliptic plane is tilted 23.5° with respect to the plane of the celestial equator since the Earth's spin axis is tilted 23.5° with respect to its orbit around the sun.
Right ascension and declination are like longitude and latitude on the surface of the Earth except that they are measured with respect to the celestial sphere with the vernal equinox as the origin.
The ecliptic plane is inclined at 23.5° with respect to the celestial equator because of the tilt of the Earth's rotation axis with respect to the plane of its orbit around the sun.
It should be distinguished from the invariable ecliptic plane, which is the vector sum of the angular momenta of all planetary orbital planes, to which Jupiter is the main contributor.
Ecliptic longitude, usually indicated with the letter λ, is measured from this point on 0° to 360° towards the east.
Eclipticlatitude, usually indicated with the letter β is measured +90° to the north or -90° to the south.
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