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Description Diagram of Earth's orbit, showing ecliptic plane and the celestial equator on the celestial sphere.
Date
Source Own work
Author Tfr000 (talk) 01:59, 15 March 2012 (UTC)


This astronomical map image could be re-created using vector graphics as an SVG file. This has several advantages; see Commons:Media for cleanup for more information. If an SVG form of this image is available, please upload it and afterwards replace this template with {{vector version available|new image name}}.


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I’m not an expert (I came here to see what “ecliptic” meant), but based upon the article (e.g., “The ecliptic is the apparent path of the Sun on the celestial sphere” and “The ecliptic is the path the Sun appears to trace through the stars”), it appears to me that the error in this picture is that they’re showing a small depiction of the “earth revolves around the sun” viewpoint within the “sun revolves around the earth” viewpoint. The former should be removed and the sun should be shown to be on the “great circle,” the circle on which (per the “sun revolves around the earth” viewpoint) the Sun appears to move as it “orbits the Earth.” Trying to illustrate two conflicting ideas in a drawing presented as representing one of those two ideas is counter-productive to the use of a drawing to help clarify the point.

I would add that it’s not clear to say that “The ecliptic is the apparent path of the Sun on the celestial sphere.” That’s only the apparent path if your presumption is that the earth and stars are stationary and the sun is revolving around the earth. It’s been quite a while since that was the first thought that entered one’s mind as the explanation for the sun’s movement across the sky, so that isn’t a description that quickly conveys the desired idea to the modern reader. Given that I'm not an expert on the subject and might be missing something, however, I hesitate to just jump in and edit someone else's article. I'm just adding comments that may help others figure this out in less time.

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14 March 2012

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Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current14:06, 19 March 2012Thumbnail for version as of 14:06, 19 March 2012906 × 926 (46 KB)Tfr000{{Information |Description=Diagram of Earth's orbit, showing ecliptic plane, ecliptic poles, celestial equator, and celestial poles on the celestial sphere |Date=19 Mar 2012 |Source={{own}} |Author= ~~~~ }}
01:56, 15 March 2012Thumbnail for version as of 01:56, 15 March 2012882 × 891 (42 KB)Tfr000Diagram of Earth's orbit, showing ecliptic plane and celestial equator on the celestial sphere

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