Astronomy Answers: From the Astronomical Dictionary

Astronomy Answers
From the Astronomical Dictionary


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The description of the word you requested from the astronomical dictionary is given below.

the ecliptic

The ecliptic is

  1. the plane of the Earth's orbit.
  2. the line where the plane of the Earth's orbit intersects the celestial sphere. This is almost the same as the path that the Sun appears to take between the stars, as seen from the Earth.

The ecliptic passes through the middle of the zodiac. All of the planets and the Moon also stay close to the ecliptic.