Approximately how far eastward does the Sun appear to move daily across the background stars along the ecliptic?
Answer
Roughly half a degree
The Sun's apparent motion across the celestial sphere, caused by the Earth’s progress in its orbit, is a steady and measurable progression. Each day, as the Earth completes one twenty-fourth of its orbit, the Sun appears to shift slightly eastward against the backdrop of distant stars that define the constellations. This incremental shift is quantified as moving approximately half a degree eastward every twenty-four hours. This consistent rate of movement over the course of the year accounts for the Sun’s passage through the entire circumference of the sky, traversing the various constellations along the ecliptic path.
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