ELIM5: How exactly do we map the sun’s ecliptic path, the zodiac in the celestial sphere? – January 27, 2023 at 04:47PM

I’m taking an intro to AST class at my university and I’m struggling to wrap my head around the celestial sphere.

To my understanding, the celestial sphere is the sphere on which objects in the sky appear to reside when observed from Earth.

So how exactly do we map the ecliptic? Do we go outside every 12 PM noon to see where it is in the sky and then map it? And how is this to say the Earth appears to move eastward along the ecliptic? What exactly does this mean? How?

Zodiac: zodiac is the constellation that is NOT visible during that time because it is blocked by the sun. So why is this matter?

Thanks in advance!