: the great circle of the celestial sphere that is the apparent path of the sun among the stars or of the earth as seen from the sun : the plane of the earth's orbit extended to meet the celestial sphere
Examples of ecliptic in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
WIRED, 20 Sep. 2023
Right now, the comet is still on its way towards the outer reaches of the solar system, and is far below the ecliptic plane (the planets, including Earth, all orbit the sun on about the same geometric plane).
—Popular Science, 8 Aug. 2018
Every 173 days, for between 31 and 37 days, the Moon is lined-up perfectly to intersect the ecliptic—the apparent path of the Sun through our daytime sky.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 6 Feb. 2023
That orbit also lies on a plane, but it’s slightly tilted, about 5 degrees relative to the ecliptic plane.
—Brian McNoldy, The Conversation, 23 Apr. 2021
Part of the reason why we’re limited in our solar understanding is that scientists only have one good direction at which to look at the sun: the ecliptic plane.
—Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics, 10 Feb. 2023
Earth orbits the sun in a certain plane – it’s called the ecliptic plane.
—Brian McNoldy, The Conversation, 23 Apr. 2021
The main asteroid belt is in close alignment with the ecliptic plane, or the same plane that includes Earth’s orbit around the sun.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 6 Feb. 2023
Eclipses don’t happen every month because the Moon’s orbit of Earth is tilted by 5º to the ecliptic, so usually the New Moon is above or below the Sun and the full Moon is above or below Earth’s shadow.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 10 Nov. 2022
Rebecca Boyle, TIME, 8 Apr. 2024
The Saros, then, is just a nice round interval during which all these cycles repeat a whole number of times: 223 passes through the new moon is almost exactly equal to 242 laps in and out of the ecliptic, which is in turn almost exactly equal to 239 oscillations in the moon’s apparent size.
—Joshua Sokol, Quanta Magazine, 5 Apr. 2024
From the codex’s astronomical tables, researchers know that the Maya tracked the lunar nodes, the two points where the orbit of the Moon intersects with the ecliptic– the plane of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, which from our point of view is the path of the Sun through our sky.
—Kimberly H. Breuer, Discover Magazine, 5 Apr. 2024
Like lunar eclipses, solar eclipses align with the moon’s nodes, invisible points in the solar system where the sun’s ecliptic and the moon’s orbital path intersect.
—Emily Newhouse, Allure, 5 Apr. 2024
All star signs are signs of the zodiac—constellations on the ecliptic, a line in the sky that the sun appears to follow.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
Solar eclipses occur because the moon’s orbital path intercepts what astronomers call the ecliptic—the apparent path the sun takes through our daytime sky.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 9 Feb. 2024
The moon’s orbital path is slightly inclined (by about 5º) to that ecliptic, intersecting it twice each month.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 9 Feb. 2024
That’s partly because, unlike the Voyager probes, New Horizons is flying close to the ecliptic—the plane of Earth’s orbit.
—Diane Hope, Ars Technica, 12 Dec. 2023
Adjective
After that, the Solar Orbiter will drift off the ecliptic plane to begin examining the sun’s poles.
—WIRED, 20 Sep. 2023
Right now, the comet is still on its way towards the outer reaches of the solar system, and is far below the ecliptic plane (the planets, including Earth, all orbit the sun on about the same geometric plane).
—Popular Science, 8 Aug. 2018
Every 173 days, for between 31 and 37 days, the Moon is lined-up perfectly to intersect the ecliptic—the apparent path of the Sun through our daytime sky.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 6 Feb. 2023
That orbit also lies on a plane, but it’s slightly tilted, about 5 degrees relative to the ecliptic plane.
—Brian McNoldy, The Conversation, 23 Apr. 2021
Part of the reason why we’re limited in our solar understanding is that scientists only have one good direction at which to look at the sun: the ecliptic plane.
—Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics, 10 Feb. 2023
Earth orbits the sun in a certain plane – it’s called the ecliptic plane.
—Brian McNoldy, The Conversation, 23 Apr. 2021
The main asteroid belt is in close alignment with the ecliptic plane, or the same plane that includes Earth’s orbit around the sun.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 6 Feb. 2023
Eclipses don’t happen every month because the Moon’s orbit of Earth is tilted by 5º to the ecliptic, so usually the New Moon is above or below the Sun and the full Moon is above or below Earth’s shadow.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 10 Nov. 2022
Noun
The ascending node is where the Moon moves into the northern ecliptic.
—Rebecca Boyle, TIME, 8 Apr. 2024
The Saros, then, is just a nice round interval during which all these cycles repeat a whole number of times: 223 passes through the new moon is almost exactly equal to 242 laps in and out of the ecliptic, which is in turn almost exactly equal to 239 oscillations in the moon’s apparent size.
—Joshua Sokol, Quanta Magazine, 5 Apr. 2024
From the codex’s astronomical tables, researchers know that the Maya tracked the lunar nodes, the two points where the orbit of the Moon intersects with the ecliptic– the plane of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, which from our point of view is the path of the Sun through our sky.
—Kimberly H. Breuer, Discover Magazine, 5 Apr. 2024
Like lunar eclipses, solar eclipses align with the moon’s nodes, invisible points in the solar system where the sun’s ecliptic and the moon’s orbital path intersect.
—Emily Newhouse, Allure, 5 Apr. 2024
All star signs are signs of the zodiac—constellations on the ecliptic, a line in the sky that the sun appears to follow.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
Solar eclipses occur because the moon’s orbital path intercepts what astronomers call the ecliptic—the apparent path the sun takes through our daytime sky.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 9 Feb. 2024
The moon’s orbital path is slightly inclined (by about 5º) to that ecliptic, intersecting it twice each month.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 9 Feb. 2024
That’s partly because, unlike the Voyager probes, New Horizons is flying close to the ecliptic—the plane of Earth’s orbit.
—Diane Hope, Ars Technica, 12 Dec. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ecliptic.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near ecliptic
Cite this Entry
“Ecliptic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ecliptic. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.
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