What is the formal name for the path the Sun traces on the celestial sphere over one year?
Answer
Ecliptic
The ecliptic is the precise, great circle path that the Sun appears to follow across the celestial sphere throughout the year. This path is fundamentally derived from the plane of Earth’s orbit around the Sun being extended outwards into space until it intersects the distant background stars. It functions as the primary reference line for measuring the celestial motions of objects like the planets and the Moon, as these bodies largely orbit within the same orbital plane as Earth.
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