ecliptic

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Related to ecliptic: north celestial pole, Ecliptic coordinates

e·clip·tic

(ĭ-klĭp′tĭk)

1. The apparent path of the sun among the stars over the course of the year. The ecliptic is the great circle of the celestial sphere which is cut by the plane of the earth's orbit.

2. A great circle inscribed on a terrestrial globe inclined at an approximate angle of 23°26′ to the equator and representing the apparent motion of the sun in relation to the earth during a year.

3. The plane defined by the earth's solar orbit, with the sun at its center, that extends throughout the solar system.

[Middle English ecliptik, from Medieval Latin (līnea) eclīptica, ecliptic (line), from Latin eclīpticus, of an eclipse, from Greek ekleiptikos, from ekleipein, to fail to appear; see eclipse.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ecliptic

(ɪˈklɪptɪk)

1. (Astronomy) astronomy

a. the great circle on the celestial sphere representing the apparent annual path of the sun relative to the stars. It is inclined at 23.45° to the celestial equator. The poles of the ecliptic lie on the celestial sphere due north and south of the plane of the ecliptic

b. (as modifier): the ecliptic plane.

2. (Navigation) an equivalent great circle, opposite points of which pass through the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, on the terrestrial globe

adj

(Astronomy) of or relating to an eclipse

eˈcliptically adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

e•clip•tic

(ɪˈklɪp tɪk)

n.

1. the great circle formed by the intersection of the plane of the earth's orbit with the celestial sphere; the apparent annual path of the sun in the heavens.

2. an analogous great circle on a terrestrial globe.

adj.

3. of or pertaining to an eclipse.

4. of or pertaining to the ecliptic.

Also, e•clip′ti•cal.

[1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin eclīptica, feminine of eclīpticus < Greek ekleiptikós]

e•clip′ti•cal•ly, adv.

e·clip·tic

(ĭ-klĭp′tĭk)

The great circle on the celestial sphere that is made by the plane containing Earth's orbit around the sun. The ecliptic traces the sun's apparent path in the sky in one year, as viewed from Earth.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ecliptic

The Sun’s apparent path across the sky.

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Noun

ecliptic - 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; "all of the planets rotate the sun in approximately the same ecliptic"

great circle - a circular line on the surface of a sphere formed by intersecting it with a plane passing through the center

Translations

ekliptika

ekliptika

References in classic literature ?

Thus said, he turnd, and SATAN bowing low, As to superior Spirits is wont in Heaven, Where honour due and reverence none neglects, Took leave, and toward the coast of Earth beneath, Down from th' Ecliptic, sped with hop'd success, Throws his steep flight with many an Aerie wheele, Nor staid, till on NIPHATES top he lights.

View in context

It was after tea on a summer evening, and the conversation, which had roamed in a desultory, spasmodic fashion from golf clubs to the causes of the change in the obliquity of the ecliptic, came round at last to the question of atavism and hereditary aptitudes.

View in context

"Try the test I told thee of, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "and don't mind any other, for thou knowest nothing about colures, lines, parallels, zodiacs, ecliptics, poles, solstices, equinoxes, planets, signs, bearings, the measures of which the celestial and terrestrial spheres are composed; if thou wert acquainted with all these things, or any portion of them, thou wouldst see clearly how many parallels we have cut, what signs we have seen, and what constellations we have left behind and are now leaving behind.

View in context

Here palms, alpacas, and volcanoes; sun's disks and stars; ecliptics, horns-of-plenty, and rich banners waving, are in luxuriant profusion stamped; so that the precious gold seems almost to derive an added preciousness and enhancing glories, by passing through those fancy mints, so Spanishly poetic.

View in context

"This seasonal beer was a play on our fan-favorite, year-round Carina Peach Sour Ale," explains John Harris, Ecliptic Brewing Owner and Brewmaster.

Tucana Tangerine Sour Ale: Ecliptic Brewing's New Summer Seasonal

The sun, in its apparent movement in the ecliptic, crosses the spring equatorial point, and from the southern hemisphere passes into the north.

The Astronomical Spring is Coming

ascending node In the orbit of a solar system body, the point where the body crosses the ecliptic from south to north.

Glossary

There's no way there should be a correlation of structure with our motion of the earth around the sun--the plane of the earth around the sun--the ecliptic. That would say we are truly the center of the universe."

Uncommon Earth

(17 & 18) EVENING: Watch as the fattening gibbous Moon hopscotches over Mars, first appearing some 5[degrees] right of the Red Planet and then 6[degrees] upper left, as it continues on its trek along the ecliptic.

OBSERVING: October 2018

However, because the Moon (and to a lesser extent the other planets) cause the true motion of the Earth to vary from a perfect ellipse, the equinox is now officially defined by the Sun's more regular ecliptic longitude rather than latitude.

Equal day and night Sunday

Topics are organized by season for quick and easy identification, as Jonathan Poppele offers observation tips and instructions on everything from the moon, planets, and deep-sky objects to the ecliptic and the zodiac.

Simply Stargazing Jonathan Poppele

From the direction of the constellation Lyra, it approached almost perpendicular to the ecliptic - an approximate plane of the solar system in which the planets and most asteroids orbit the sun - thereby avoiding any encounters with the eight planets during its inward journey.