Nectarine trees produce varietals of fruit that commonly have smooth skin, firm flesh and a stone that either removes easily from the flesh or clings to it, giving them further classification as clingstone or freestone.
The ecliptic is an imaginary line that marks the path of the sun. The signs of the Zodiac come from the constellations that lie along this line. As Earth orbits the sun, the sun appears to drift across the background stars. The ecliptic marks out the path of this motion on the sky.
ellipse [(i-lips)] In geometry, a curve traced out by a point that is required to move so that the sum of its distances from two fixed points (called foci) remains constant. If the foci are identical with each other, the ellipse is a circle; if the two foci are distinct from each other, the ellipse looks like a squashed or elongated circle. Note: The orbits of the planets and of many comets are ellipses.