How closely inclined is the ecliptic plane to the solar equator?

And which planet is closest to the solar equatorial plane?|||Earth ecliptic is 7.155 deg.


Mercury is closest, followed by Venus.|||Also, kudos to "rich"





He answered the second part of my question how I phrased it, and not how I meant to (should have read, "which planets ORBIT is closest to the solar equatorial plane") sorry for that mixup.

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|||There is a seven degree inclination between the plane of the solar equator and the ecliptic. Mercury's orbit is inclined seven degrees to the eclipitc, but that doesn't put Mercury closest to the solar equatorial plane. It would depend on the sun's precession, and the planets' location in their orbits.|||Good question. I researched this a bit and have not come up with an answer.





Except to point out that neither the direction nor the magnitude of the Sun's angular momentum vector is well known, because the rotation of the material below the photosphere is not well known (although it can be investigated through solar seismology).





Jupiter's orbit is by far the biggest reservoir of angular momentum in the Solar System.





This website





http://www.valdostamuseum.org/hamsmith/a…





says that the sun's orbital momentum vector is tilted 7 degrees with respect to the sum of the planet's vectors.|||The ecliptic intersects the the celestial equator at two points: during the vernal equinox and autumnal equinox. This means that the ecliptic follows a circular path around the sky, half of the time above and half of the time below the celestial equator.|||The inclination is about 23.5 degrees - as for which one is close to being in the equatorial plane - I don't know - maybe one of the dwarf worlds?