I wanted to see how the shape of the ecliptic changes from day to day. I know that the Sun rises in different locations each day and we talk about the ecliptic being steep or shallow and the crescent Moon diagrams in the
Astronomical Calendar show it being steep at moonrise and shallow at moonset during some months and similar during other months. So I decided to chart the ecliptic.
The first chart was for three dates during the current month.
Next I made a chart for the equinoxes and solstices. For this chart I used Standard Time throughout the year so that I was not comparing apples and oranges.
I was surprised that the shape of the ecliptic seems to remain constant. The only change I see is when it intersects the horizon and how high it gets.
