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Pertaining to the ecliptic; as, the ecliptic way.

The horoscope, or that degree of the ecliptic which rises above the horizon at the moment of one's birth; supposed to have a commanding influence on a person's life and fortune.

nding. -- Ascending node having, that node of the moon or a planet wherein it passes the ecliptic to proceed northward. It is also called the northern node. Herschel. -- Ascending series. (Math.) (a) A series arranged according to the ascending powers of a quantity. (b) A series in which each term is greater than the…

or when it passes the ~ point. -- ~= point, the point of the equator intersected by the ecliptic, as the sun proceeds southward; the first point of Libra. -- ~= signs, the signs Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius, through which the sun passes between the ~ equinox and winter solstice.

folded over along the axis, shall coincide with the other part. -- Axis of the equator, ecliptic, horizon (or other circle considered with reference to the sphere on which it lies), the diameter of the sphere which is perpendicular to the plane of the circle. Hutton. -- Axis of the Ionic capital (Arch.), a line pass…

ce in space, as two equal triangles, when placed one on the other. If the equator and the ecliptic had coincided, it would have rendered the annual revoluton of the earth useless. Cheyne.

An exceedingly faint roundish or somewhat oblong nebulous light near the ecliptic and opposite the sun, best seen during September and October, when in the constellations Sagittarius and Pisces. Its cause is not yet understood. Called also Gegenschein.

- said of the distance of a planet from the sun or earth, as measured in the plane of the ecliptic, or the distance from the sun or earth to that point where a perpendicular, let fall from the planet upon the plane of the ecliptic, meets the ecliptic. Curtate cycloid. (Math.) See Cycloid.

th. -- Descending node (Astron.), that point in a planet's orbit where it intersects the ecliptic in passing southward. -- Descending series (Math.), a series in which each term is numerically smaller than the preceding one; also, a series arranged according to descending powers of a quantity.

A southern constellation, within which is the south pole of the ecliptic; -- called also sometimes Xiphias, or the Swordfish.

The Dragon, a northern constellation within which is the north pole of the ecliptic.

e circled. Milton. - Equinoctial points (Astron.), the two points where the celestial and ecliptic intersect each other; the one being in the first point of Aries, the other in the first point of Libra. -- Equinoctial time (Astron.) reckoned in any year from the instant when the mean sun is at the mean vernal equinoct…

es or planes; as, the inclination of the plane of the earth's equator to the plane of the ecliptic is about 23º 28'; the inclination of two rays of light.

The angular distance of a heavenly body from the ecliptic. Ascending latitude, Circle of latitude, Geographical latitude, etc. See under Ascending. Circle, etc. -- High latitude, that part of the earth's surface near either pole, esp. that part within either the arctic or the antarctic circle. -- Low latitude, that p…

The distance in degrees, reckoned from the vernal equinox, on the ecliptic, to a circle at right angles to the ecliptic passing through the heavenly body whose longitude is designated; as, the longitude of Capella is 79º. Geocentric longitude (Astron.), the longitude of a heavenly body as seen from the earth. -- Helio…

The meridian, or middle line of the heavens; the point of the ecliptic on the meridian.

gth 27 d. 13 h. 18 m. 37.4 s.; and the tropical, or time of passing from any point of the ecliptic to the same again, equal to 27 d. 7 h. 43 m. 4.7 s. -- Solar month, the time in which the sun passes through one sign of the zodiac, in mean length 30 d. 10 h. 29 m. 4.1 s.

The middle or highest point of the part of the ecliptic which is at any given moment above the horizon. It is the ninetieth degree of the ecliptic, reckoned from the points in which it is intersected by the horizon.

small libratory motion of the earth's axis, by which its inclination to the plane of the ecliptic is constantly varying by a small amount.

m or perpendicularity; the amount of such deviation; divergence; as, the obliquity of the ecliptic to the equator.