Ecliptic

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language

·adj Pertaining to an eclipse or to eclipses.

II. Ecliptic ·adj Pertaining to the ecliptic; as, the ecliptic way.

III. Ecliptic ·adj A great circle drawn on a terrestrial globe, making an angle of 23° 28' with the equator;

— used for illustrating and solving astronomical problems.

IV. Ecliptic ·adj 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.

Related Words

  • ecliptic

    The great circle of the heavens which the sun appears to us to describe in the course of a year, in ...

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  • ecliptic conjunction

    Is the moon in conjunction with the sun at the time of new moon, both luminaries having then the sam...

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  • ecliptic limits

    Certain limits of latitude within which eclipses take place, and beyond which they cannot occur. ...

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  • obliquity of the ecliptic

    The angle between the planes of the ecliptic and the equator, or the inclination of the earth's equa...

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  • cardinal points of the ecliptic

    The equinoctial and solstitial points; namely, the commencement of Aries and Libra, and of Cancer an...

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