When I look at a solar system drawing there are planets circling the sun and they look like they are in a straight line and level to each other. But is there a below and above? Like if we sent out a camera directly under earth (south pole) would there be planets, stars, etc below Earth?
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Planets orbit in close to the same plane around a star because of collision when the solar system is formed and because of gravitational interaction between them after they are formed. But all the orbital planes are not aligned in the galaxy, they are randomly distributed.
In a solar system, we define a plane as a reference and can have coordinates relative to it. You would define the plane so if you look at it from above plate orbit counterclockwise. The https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-hand_rule is used, curve you fingering the direction of rotation and the positive direction is the direction of your thumb. This is used all the time in math and physics, it is an arbitrary rule and you could do the same with the left hand but we did not pick that
The same way we can define a galactic up and down from a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactic_plane based on the general orbit of the solar system around it. It is not the same as our orbit around or the earth’s spin. You can see the milky way in the sky can be directly above you if you are 29 degrees south of the equator, it can be seen north of the equator too
So there are no planes that orbit far away from earth orbit around the sun. But there is stars in every direction, not the same amount there are more in the plane that the galactic core is in. Polaris which is close to directly above the north pole will be above used in the galactic plane so that direction contains fewer stars than toward the milky way
You can see a model of the milky way at https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/images/620057main_milkyway_full.jpg wit the solar system marked out. The galaxy is around 100,000 lightyears in diameter but only 1000 lightyears thick so quite a flat disc. There is a different amount of stars in a different direction just because of out location in it. If you are at the edge of a forest there are more trees in one direction compared to the other.
You will not see a huge difference with your naked eye because 75% of all starts you can see without any aid are within 500 light years. That is visible individual stars, not the milky way is millions of stars combined that is just a bright band in the sky
The orientation of the milky way is the same way not special in the universe and there is the same amount of galaxies in any direction away from ut.
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