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Loading contentThe ecliptic is the apparent path the Sun traces against the background stars over the course of a year. It is essentially the plane of Earth's orbit projected onto the sky, seen from our moving vantage point.
Because the planets orbit the Sun in roughly the same plane as Earth, they — along with the Moon — are always seen close to the ecliptic. The constellations the Sun passes through over the year lie along this same band.
The ecliptic is tilted relative to Earth's equator, a tilt that gives rise to the seasons. The band of constellations centered on the ecliptic is known as the zodiac.