Are the planes of solar systems aligned

with the plane of their galaxy?

The orientation of a planetary system orbiting a star depends only on the initial angular

momentum of the clouds of dust and gas from which it formed. Since these small motions are

completely random, the resulting planetary system can have any orientation. The structure of the star’s host galaxy has no bearing at all on how its planetary systems align themselves. Our Solar System, for example, is inclined by about 63° to the plane of the Milky Way.

What shape does a planet orbiting

two suns make?

There are many possible orbital shapes that a planet can make in a binary star system. It depends on the masses of the two stars, their separation, the mass of the planet, its distance from each star and whether it is orbiting one star in the pair or both. At sufficient distances the planet will revolve around both stars in an elliptical orbit. Closer in, the orbit may be squashed into various shapes that slowly change orientation, much like the patterns you get from a Spirograph. There are even orbits that trace out long sausage shapes or the petals of a flower, or cross periodically between the two stars. Complex orbits such as these may be rare, since many of them are inherently unstable and would soon break down. Figure-of-eight orbits are not possible.