The apparent path of the Sun through the celestial sphere is called the ecliptic. It is the projection of Earth’s orbital plane onto the sky, so the Sun appears to drift eastward along this path as Earth travels around its orbit.
The Sun completes one apparent circuit of the ecliptic in about one year, moving roughly 1 degree eastward against the background stars each day. The ecliptic is tilted about 23.4 degrees relative to the celestial equator because Earth’s rotational axis is not perpendicular to its orbital plane.
The zodiac is not the path itself: it is a belt of sky centered on the ecliptic, traditionally divided into twelve signs. The Moon and planets also appear near the ecliptic because their orbital planes are broadly aligned with Earth’s. Eclipses occur near the ecliptic when the Moon crosses this plane at one of its nodes.