A familiar space picture, and a confusing question
Most school charts and space animations show the planets moving around the Sun in what looks like a wide, flat disc. The orbits appear to sit on a single sheet, with each planet travelling in the same general direction. That common layout often raises a simple question: if space surrounds Earth in every direction, what lies “below” us?
The short answer is that “below” in space is not fixed in the way it is on Earth. In everyday life, down points toward the ground because gravity pulls us toward the planet’s centre. In space, directions like up and down depend on the reference plane a person chooses.
The plane that shapes our view of the Solar System
The plane seen in most Solar System illustrations is based on the fact that the planets largely orbit in a similar plane around the Sun. This shared surface is the baseline used to describe where objects are located above or below it. When someone asks what is above or below the planets, they are usually referring to positions relative to this orbital plane.
Because most orbits are aligned, the Solar System can be pictured like a flattened arrangement rather than a fully spherical swarm. The planets also move around the Sun in the same direction, another feature that stands out in models and diagrams.
So what is “below Earth” in space?
If “below” is taken to mean “opposite the direction we point on a map,” it does not translate directly into space. There is no universal down. Astronomers and educators typically describe “above” and “below” by measuring angles relative to the plane in which the planets orbit.
In other words, what lies below Earth depends on whether you mean below the local ground under your feet, or below the Solar System’s orbital plane. The first is defined by Earth’s gravity. The second is defined by the shared geometry of the planetary orbits.
Why the planets travel in a flat arrangement
The aligned orbits are a key reason Solar System diagrams look like a pan cake rather than a ball. When planets move in roughly the same plane and direction, it suggests a common structure shaping their paths.
This is why, in many models of the Solar System, the space “above” and “below” the planetary plane appears like two broad regions extending away from the flattened ring of orbits. Space is still present in every direction, but the planets mostly keep to that shared track.