<p>Well, Wikipedia says that it's 7.25°to the ecliptic and gives a <a href="http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/sunfact.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">reference</a>.</p>
<p>Looking there clarifies the value in 3 dimensions:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>North Pole of Rotation</p>
<p>Right Ascension: 286.13<br />
Declination    :  63.87</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Since those coordinates are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_ascension" rel="nofollow noreferrer">relative to the Earth’s axis</a>, being a <em>practical</em> measurement system for Earth ground observers to use in pointing their telescopes, you need to combine that with Earth's orbit.</p>
<p>As a useful visualization, <em>mark that point</em> on a model of the celesial sphere.  Compare that with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecliptic" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ecliptic</a> pole: the difference between thise points is what you want to know.</p>
<p>I expect you’ll find they are separated by 7.25°, but by marking a model sphere you’ll understand the actual direction.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-07T17:07:30.600Z
Thank you JDługosz for your useful response. I remember reading the Wikipedia article you mention some time ago but did not notice/pursue the reference you cite. A related problem: I am unclear re the relationship of the ecliptic plane to the celestial plane - the sources I've read seem  to conflict. Those two sources would be Wikipedia's article: Ecliptic, and [link](hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/eclip.html‎). This problem pertains to the plane of orientation of the Sun's axial tilt.
emansnas
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-07T17:11:47.323Z
Post another question.
JDługosz
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-07T11:26:18.263Z
2016-12-07T11:26:18.263Z
2020-06-17T09:47:40.653Z
JDługosz
<p>The present northern direction to the nearest 0.5 degrees with degree zero being the start of January and measured counterclockwise (same as Earth's orbit relative to celestial north pole). </p>

<p>If the assumptions below do not allow a precision of 0.5 degrees then I imagine this question is unanswerable without specifying a specific date and time, in which case the specific date and time would be 1 January 2017, 00:00:00 hours.</p>

<p>Assumptions: (1) That the Earth's orbit around the sun is a perfect circle (I know it's very slightly elliptical but intuitively imagine that won't significantly affect the precision I need). (2) That the Sun's center is at the center of Earth's circular orbit (I know the Sun's center isn't exactly but don't imagine that will affect the accuracy I need either).</p>

<p>Note 1: I've found three general answers from three different sites, but, two of them appear to me to conflict and the other is too imprecise.</p>

<p>Note 2: This is my first post to this site and I did not plow through the hundreds of questions related to these tags. So if this question has already 
been answered I apologize and please be merciful and point me in right direction. </p>

<p>Thank you</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-07T12:47:42.747Z
I'm not sure I follow what you're asking.   It's more common to compare the plane of the Earth's axis to the plane of the Sun's equator, cause those are only a few degrees off and the Sun's equator is a simple 90 degrees to the Sun's axis.      You can do it either way, but I would err towards the traditional comparison of orbital plane to equatorial plane.    Also, it might be easier to see what you mean if you'd post your sites to point out more clearly where you see a conflict and imprecision.
userLTK
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-07T16:38:43.603Z
Thank you userLTK for your response. Apologies for any ambiguity; accordingly I've edited the title of my question. I hope the edit is useful. I understand your point re the more common comparison; for my purposes, the Earth's actual orbital plane around the Sun is most useful. Apologies also for not providing links to the sites I mentioned. I had these recorded on a HD that wasn't backed up and failed months ago sometime after first pursuing this question. I will attempt to find them and provide them thru edit of my question's body.
emansnas
<the-sun><solar-system>
What is direction of Sun's axis of rotation relative to the Earth's orbital plane around the Sun?
emansnas
# What is direction of Sun's axis of rotation relative to the Earth's orbital plane around the Sun?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-12-07)

The present northern direction to the nearest 0.5 degrees with degree zero being the start of January and measured counterclockwise (same as Earth's orbit relative to celestial north pole).

If the assumptions below do not allow a precision of 0.5 degrees then I imagine this question is unanswerable without specifying a specific date and time, in which case the specific date and time would be 1 January 2017, 00:00:00 hours.

Assumptions: (1) That the Earth's orbit around the sun is a perfect circle (I know it's very slightly elliptical but intuitively imagine that won't significantly affect the precision I need). (2) That the Sun's center is at the center of Earth's circular orbit (I know the Sun's center isn't exactly but don't imagine that will affect the accuracy I need either).

Note 1: I've found three general answers from three different sites, but, two of them appear to me to conflict and the other is too imprecise.

Note 2: This is my first post to this site and I did not plow through the hundreds of questions related to these tags. So if this question has already
been answered I apologize and please be merciful and point me in right direction.

Thank you

**Tags:** the-sun, solar-system
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I'm not sure I follow what you're asking.   It's more common to compare the plane of the Earth's axis to the plane of the Sun's equator, cause those are only a few degrees off and the Sun's equator is a simple 90 degrees to the Sun's axis.      You can do it either way, but I would err towards the traditional comparison of orbital plane to equatorial plane.    Also, it might be easier to see what you mean if you'd post your sites to point out more clearly where you see a conflict and imprecision.  
> **username_0**: Thank you userLTK for your response. Apologies for any ambiguity; accordingly I've edited the title of my question. I hope the edit is useful. I understand your point re the more common comparison; for my purposes, the Earth's actual orbital plane around the Sun is most useful. Apologies also for not providing links to the sites I mentioned. I had these recorded on a HD that wasn't backed up and failed months ago sometime after first pursuing this question. I will attempt to find them and provide them thru edit of my question's body.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2016-12-07. Score: 2

Well, Wikipedia says that it's 7.25°to the ecliptic and gives a [reference](http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/sunfact.html).

Looking there clarifies the value in 3 dimensions:

> North Pole of Rotation
>
> Right Ascension: 286.13  
> Declination : 63.87

Since those coordinates are [relative to the Earth’s axis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_ascension), being a *practical* measurement system for Earth ground observers to use in pointing their telescopes, you need to combine that with Earth's orbit.

As a useful visualization, *mark that point* on a model of the celesial sphere. Compare that with the [ecliptic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecliptic) pole: the difference between thise points is what you want to know.

I expect you’ll find they are separated by 7.25°, but by marking a model sphere you’ll understand the actual direction.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you JDługosz for your useful response. I remember reading the Wikipedia article you mention some time ago but did not notice/pursue the reference you cite. A related problem: I am unclear re the relationship of the ecliptic plane to the celestial plane - the sources I've read seem  to conflict. Those two sources would be Wikipedia's article: Ecliptic, and [link](hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/eclip.html‎). This problem pertains to the plane of orientation of the Sun's axial tilt.  
> **username_2**: Post another question.  

---

