Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The plane defined by the earth's orbit projected onto the celestial sphere, along which the sun appears to move as viewed from the earth.
- noun A great circle inscribed on a terrestrial globe inclined at an approximate angle of 23°27′ to the equator and representing the apparent motion of the sun in relation to the earth during a year.
- noun The plane defined by the earth's solar orbit, with the sun at its center, that extends throughout the solar system.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Pertaining to an eclipse.
- Pertaining to the apparent path of the sun in the heavens: as, ecliptic constellations.
- noun In astronomy, a great circle of the heavens in the plane of the earth's orbit, or that of the apparent annual motion of the sun among the stars.
- noun A great circle drawn upon a terrestrial globe, tangent to the tropics.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Astron.) A great circle of the celestial sphere, making an angle with the equinoctial of about 23° 28'. It is the apparent path of the sun, or the real path of the earth as seen from the sun.
- noun (Geog.) A great circle drawn on a terrestrial globe, making an angle of 23° 28' with the equator; -- used for illustrating and solving astronomical problems.
- adjective Pertaining to the ecliptic.
- adjective Pertaining to an eclipse or to eclipses.
- adjective (Astron.) the space of 12° on the moon's orbit from the node, within which, if the moon happens to be at full, it will be eclipsed.
- adjective the space of 17° from the lunar node, within which, if a conjunction of the sun and moon occur, the sun will be eclipsed.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun astronomy The apparent path of the Sun in the sky. More accurately, it is the intersection of the
celestial sphere with the plane of the ecliptic, which is the geometric plane containing the mean orbit of the Earth around the Sun. So named because aneclipse can occur only when the Moon lies on this plane.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the great circle representing the apparent annual path of the sun; the plane of the Earth's orbit around the sun; makes an angle of about 23 degrees with the equator
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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An answer to some of your questions: the plane-of-the-ecliptic is a geometric term that basically means the natural horizon of space, versus an an artificial horizon.
Superhero Nation: how to write superhero novels and comic books » The Five Page Challenge! 2009
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The Oort cloud would have its inner disk at the ecliptic from the Kuiper belt.
Planet-x.com.au » does every solar system have a Oort cloud? 2010
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The plane of the ecliptic is well seen in this picture from the 1994 lunar prospecting Clementine spacecraft.
Alien Hunters Shift Gears: Let E.T. Try To Find Us in the ‘Ecliptic’ | Disinformation 2008
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The orbit of the earth (or the circle which the sun seems to describe round the earth), is called the ecliptic, which is divided into twelve equal parts, called signs, and are distinguished by the following names and marks, [again, the symbols for the signs can be seen in the
A Museum for Young Gentlemen and Ladies Or, a Private Tutor for Little Masters and Misses
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In astronomy, the zodiac is the ring of constellations that lines the ecliptic, which is the apparent path of the Sun across the sky over the course of the …
Debunking Astrology: Mars Can't Influence You | Universe Today 2010
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Because of that, the coordinate system is aligned to the ecliptic, which is the plane the planets of the Solar System orbit in.
Archive 2008-11-01 2008
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Because of that, the coordinate system is aligned to the ecliptic, which is the plane the planets of the Solar System orbit in.
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The result is an accurate representation of where the planets can be found along the ecliptic, which is the great circle the sun traces through the sky on its yearly journey.
Rambles at starchamber.com » Blog Archive » My new Sky Clock 2006
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Although the sun and moon both course through the band of the sky called the ecliptic, their orbits do not exactly coincide.
Taking the Kalachakra Initiation ��� 3 External Kalachakra 1997
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The ecliptic is the band in the sky through which the sun, moon and planets course.
Taking the Kalachakra Initiation ��� 3 External Kalachakra 1997
yarb commented on the word ecliptic
Now those noble golden coins of South America are as medals of the sun and tropic token-pieces. Here palms, alpacas, and volcanoes; sun's disks and stars, ecliptics, horns-of-plenty, and rich banners waving, are in luxuriant profusion stamped ...
- Melville, Moby-Dick, ch. 99
July 29, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word ecliptic
Another usage on colures.
October 12, 2008