what is the ecliptic?
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- The ecliptic is an imaginary line that marks the path of the sun. The signs of the Zodiac come from the constellations that lie along this line. As Earth orbits the sun, the sun appears to drift across the background stars. The ecliptic marks out the path of this motion on the sky.
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What is Astrology? Astrology is both an ancient system that uses the movements of the planets in a way that is not unlike a giant clock, as well as probably the most sophisticated quantum computing device ever imagined.
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"""2017 Winner of Best Education Podcast in the Podcast Awards""Mignon FogartySubscribe to my podcast on Apple Podcasts , Stitcher, SoundCloud , Android, Spotify, Google Play, RadioPublic, Overcast, or via RSS .Connect with me on Facebook , Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google +, Pinterest, and YouTube. Subscribe to my article RSS feed ." She has a B.A. in English from the University of Washington in Seattle and an M.S. in biology from Stanford University. Mignon believes that learning is fun, and the vast rules of grammar are wonderful fodder for lifelong study. She strives to be a friendly guide in the writing world. Her archenemy is the evil Grammar Maven, who inspires terror in the untrained and is neither friendly nor helpful.
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Ecliptic The apparent motion of the Sun along the ecliptic (red) as seen on the inside of the celestial sphere. Ecliptic coordinates appear in (red). The celestial equator (blue) and the equatorial coordinates (blue), being inclined to the ecliptic, appear to wobble as the Sun advances.
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Zodiac The zodiac is the circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude employed by western astrology and (formerly) astronomy. The western zodiac is centered upon the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year.
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- An ellipse, informally, is an oval or a squished circle. In primitive geometrical terms, an ellipse is the figure you can draw in the sand by the following process: Push two sticks into the sand. Take a piece of string and form a loop that is big enough to go around the two sticks and still have some slack.
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Ptolemaic system The astronomical system of Ptolemy, in which the earth is at the center of the universe with the sun, moon, planets, and stars revolving about it in circular orbits.
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equinox Either of the two points on the celestial sphere where the ecliptic (the apparent path of the Sun) crosses the celestial equator. ◇ The point at which the Sun's path crosses the celestial equator moving from south to north is called the vernal equinox.
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ellipse Noun. 1. ellipse-a closed plane curve resulting from the intersection of a circular cone and a plane cutting completely through it; the sums of the distances from the foci to any point on an ellipse is constant. oval. conic, conic section - (geometry) a curve generated by the intersection of a plane and a circular cone.
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Axis Tilt is Critical for Life The tilt of the Earth's spin axis with respect to the plane of its orbit about the sun (the ecliptic plane) is important for a habitable Earth. The Earth's spin axis is tilted 23.5° with respect to the ecliptic, giving moderate seasons and preventing temperature extremes anywhere on the planet. This illustration, patterned after Ward and Brownlee, summarizes the effects of different tilt angles with respect to the ecliptic plane.
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ecliptic Recent Examples of ecliptic from the Web According to NASA, solar eclipses occur only if the moon is within 0.5 degrees of the plane of the ecliptic, a line passing through the center of the sun and the earth. — tom skilling, chicagotribune.com, Ask Tom: Will there be a new moon during the solar eclipse?, 11 Aug. 2017
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Equinox Its declination will not be exactly zero either. (The ecliptic is defined by the center of mass of the Earth and Moon combined). The modern definition of equinox is the instants when the Sun's apparent geocentric longitude is 0° (northward equinox) or 180° (southward equinox). See the adjacent diagram. Because of the precession of the Earth's axis, the position of the vernal point on the celestial sphere changes over time, and the equatorial and the ecliptic coordinate systems change accordingly.
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15 Constellations Every Man Should Know (And How to Find Them) This constellation is one of 12 constellations that form the zodiac — the constellations that straddle the sun’s path across the sky (known in scienctific terms as the ecliptic). In ancient times, that gave the constellations of the zodiac special significance.
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Zodiac The zodiac is an area of the sky centered upon the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year.
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Axial tilt Earth's axial tilt (obliquity) is currently about 23.4°. Earth's orbital plane is known as the ecliptic plane, and Earth's tilt is known to astronomers as the obliquity of the ecliptic, being the angle between the ecliptic and the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. It is denoted by the Greek letter ε. Earth currently has an axial tilt of about 23.4°.
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Longitude A graticule on the Earth as a sphere or an ellipsoid. The lines from pole to pole are lines of constant longitude, or meridians. The circles parallel to the equator are lines of constant latitude, or parallels.
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Ellipsis Ellipsis (plural ellipses; from the Ancient Greek: ἔλλειψις, élleipsis, omission or falling short) is a series of dots (typically three, such as …) that usually indicates an intentional omission of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text without altering its original meaning.
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Paths of the Planets (Of course, it's actually the Earth that moves about the Sun, and not the other way around, but the result of our orbital motion is that the Sun seems to move against the stellar backdrop.) The planets don't remain exactly on the ecliptic, but they stay pretty close to it at all times.
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Solar eclipse However, the Moon's orbit is inclined (tilted) at more than 5 degrees to the Earth's orbit around the Sun (see ecliptic), so its shadow at new moon usually misses Earth. Earth's orbit is called the ecliptic plane as the Moon's orbit must cross this plane in order for an eclipse (both solar as well as lunar) to occur. In addition, the Moon's actual orbit is elliptical, often taking it far enough away from Earth that its apparent size is not large enough to block the Sun totally.
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General Astronomy/Print version When a satellite follows a non-circular orbit around the earth, the satellite's path is an ellipse with the center of the earth at one focus. The point of highest altitude in the elliptical orbit is called the apogee. When a satellite follows a non-circular orbit around the earth, the satellite's path is an ellipse with the center of the earth at one focus.
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Ecliptic The ecliptic is the circular path on the celestial sphere that the Sun appears to follow over the course of a year; it is the basis of the ecliptic coordinate system. The term also refers to the plane of this path, which is coplanar with Earth's orbit around the Sun. The ecliptic is not normally noticeable from Earth's surface because Earth rotates, carrying the observer through the cycles of sunrise and sunset, which obscure the Sun's apparent motion against the background of fixed stars.
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ellipsis (grammar and rhetoric) In grammar and rhetoric, ellipsis is the omission of one or more words, which must be supplied by the listener or reader. In grammar and rhetoric, ellipsis is the omission of one or more words, which must be supplied by the listener or reader. Adjective: elliptical or elliptic. Plural, ellipses. Also known as an elliptical expression or elliptical clause.
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- autumnal equinox. n. 1. (Physical Geography) the time at which the sun crosses the plane of the equator away from the relevant hemisphere, making day and night of equal length. It occurs about Sept 23 in the N hemisphere (March 21 in the S hemisphere).
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Definitions &Translations Historically, these twelve divisions are called signs. Essentially, the zodiac is a celestial coordinate system, or more specifically an ecliptic coordinate system, which takes the ecliptic as the origin of latitude, and the position of the Sun at vernal equinox as the origin of longitude.
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Solar Eclipse â What is a Solar Eclipse Earth's orbit is called the ecliptic plane as the Moon's orbit must cross this plane in order for an eclipse (both solar as well as lunar) to occur. In addition, the Moon's actual orbit is elliptical, often taking it far enough away from Earth that its apparent size is not large enough to block the Sun totally.
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- The Vertex axis is a point of energy derived from the intersection of the Prime Vertical and the Ecliptic. The West side of this point is called the Vertex, the East side is called the Anti-Vertex. The Ascendant-Descendant axis is found by the points of intersection of the Great Circles of the Ecliptic and Horizon.