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ecliptic

A Dictionary of Astronomy

ecliptic The apparent path of the Sun against the star background over the course of a year. The movement of the Sun along the ecliptic is actually a result of the Earth's movement in its orbit around the Sun. Therefore the ecliptic is actually the plane of the Earth's orbit projected on to the celestial sphere. Because of the Earth's axial tilt, the ecliptic is inclined at about 23°.4 to the celestial equator, an angle known as the obliquity of the ecliptic. The ecliptic crosses the celestial equator at the equinoxes. It takes its name from the fact that eclipses occur when the Moon is near the plane of the ecliptic.

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© A Dictionary of Astronomy 1997, originally published by Oxford University Press 1997.

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