Attention was concentrated on the horizon and the ecliptic .

关注重点在于地平线和黄道。

The ecliptic plane is defined as the imaginary plane containing the earth 's orbit around the sun .

黄道平面是一个假想的平面，理论上它包含了地球环绕太阳运行的轨道。

Saturn still shines in the night though , farther eastward along the ecliptic plane .

而沿着黄道平面朝更远的东方，土星仍在夜空中闪亮。

Many european scholars have found it almost impossible to believe that a fully equatorial system of astronomy could have grown up without passing through an ecliptic ( zodiacal ) phase , yet that undoubtedly happened .

许多欧洲学者认为避开黄道坐标系建立一个完整的一套完整的赤道坐标体系几乎是不可能的，可是几乎不可能的事情不容置疑地发生了。

Four bright celestial beacons and a faint triangle of light follow the plane of the ecliptic as it arcs high through this southern hemisphere night skyscape .

四个明亮的天体和一个模糊的三角形光带沿着黄道平面弧形伸展在这南半球的夜空。