Invariable Plane
From LoveToKnow 1911
INVARIABLE PLANE, in celestial mechanics (see Astronomy), that plane on which the sum of the moments of momentum of all the bodies which make up a system is a maximum.
Invariable Plane
The plane through the center of mass of the solar system perpendicular to the angular momentum vector of the solar system.
Invariant ...
The Invariable Plane
Figure 6. The current location of the celestial north pole, the ecliptic north pole, and the north pole of the invariable plane in the northern sky. Illustration courtesy of author.
For planets see Invariable Plane; for a system of satellites, the fixed plane relative to which the vector sum of the disturbing forces has no orthogonal component. [S92]
Large Magellanic Cloud ...
It has been proposed that a disk of dust and other debris is in the invariable plane, and this affects the Earth's climate through several possible means.
Characteristically, big (bright) objects are typically on inclined orbits, while the invariable plane re-groups mostly small and dim objects.
The labeling of this pole as "south" uses the definition currently endorsed by the International Astronomical Union, namely that the north pole of a planet or satellite shall be the pole which points above the invariable plane of the solar system ...
I read the following on page 299 of More Mathematical Astronomy Morsels by Jean Meeus: "In 1970 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) decided that the rotational pole of a planet or satellite that lies on the north side of the invariable plane ...
 See also: Solar, Planet, Sun, Orbit, Moon
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