Really Bad Graphic Number 1

In this demonstration we have both the sun and the earth – as in the graphic above.  To form the ecliptic, we take a plane and cut both the sun and the earth in half with it.  Really Bad Graphic Number 2 shows what this looks like.

Really Bad Graphic Number 2

The plane that cuts through the spheres (the sun and earth) is called the ecliptic plane.

The ecliptic is a pretty color, why don't we see it in the sky?

Because it's imaginary!  Leave me alone.  I don't want you here.

But we like being here.

Please just ignore them.  Now that I have established the ecliptic, I'm going to give you a problem just so that I know you understand.  In this problem we are going to ask the question, "What would the ecliptic plane look like for someone standing on a different planet?"

So here is what the earth looks like as it orbits the sun:

Really Bad Graphic Number 3

And this is what the planet in our experiment looks like as it orbits a distant star:

Really Bad Graphic Number 4