Anyone watching the night sky eventually notices that there are several objects that move in relation to the static backdrop of the stars. The Greek astronomers named them ‘wanders.’ The light from these objects was steady, rarely dimming or lighting. We know them as planets. Early observations of the planets had them follow a tight area in the sky. Early astronomers found five of these objects. They named them Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Later, Uranus and Neptune were discovered. The region of the sky where the planets appeared to move was called the ecliptic. The Moon and Sun also appear to move in the same part. The twelve constellations in this path are the zodiacal constellations.
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