| We get a partial solar eclipse when the Moon's path almost intersects the ecliptic. |
| The Moon's Nodes are points in space representing the points where the moon's orbit around the earth crosses the ecliptic. |
| Another eight years later the node has moved beyond the ecliptic limit, and no transit can take place. |
| The equinoctial colure is a great circle which passes through the celestial poles and the ecliptic at the two equinoxes. |
| The nodical period is the period between two crossings of the ecliptic in the same direction. |
| The planets all orbit the Sun in the same direction, with orbital planes inclined slightly to the ecliptic. |
