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ecliptic

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | Date: 2008

ecliptic , the great circle on the celestial sphere that lies in the plane of the earth's orbit (called the plane of the ecliptic). Because of the earth's yearly revolution around the sun, the sun appears to move in an annual journey through the heavens with the ecliptic as its path. The ecliptic is the principal axis in the ecliptic coordinate system . The two points at which the ecliptic crosses the celestial equator are the equinoxes . The obliquity of the ecliptic is the inclination of the plane of the ecliptic to the plane of the celestial equator, an angle of about 23 1/2 °. The constellations through which the ecliptic passes are the constellations of the zodiac .

Author not available, ECLIPTIC., The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2008

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Related entries from encyclopedias, dictionaries, and thesauruses

	ecliptic The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology ecliptic pert. to an eclipse XIV; sb. great circle of the celestial sphere, the apparent orbit of the sun, so called because eclipses happen ... Read more
	ecliptic Britannica Concise Encyclopedia ... on the celestial sphere of the orbit of Earth around the Sun, which intersects the plane of the celestial equator at the vernal and autumnal equinox es. The constellations of the zodiac are arranged along the ecliptic. ecliptic ecliptic ecliptic Read more
	ecliptic The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English e·clip·tic / iˈkliptik / • n. Astron. a great circle on the celestial sphere representing the sun's apparent path during the year, so called because lunar and solar eclipses can occur only when the moon crosses it. • adj. of an eclipse or the ecliptic. Read more
	obliquity of the ecliptic The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition see inclination . Read more
	precession of the equinoxes The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition westward motion of the equinoxes along the ecliptic . This motion was first noted by Hipparchus ... moves on the celestial sphere , while the ecliptic, which lies in the plane of the earth ... intersections of the celestial equator and the ecliptic, thus move on the celestial sphere. Similarly ... Read more