What is the ecliptic?
The yearly path of the Sun against the stars — and the road the Moon and planets travel along.
The planets all orbit the Sun in nearly the same flat plane, like runners on a racetrack. Seen from Earth, that plane is a line across the sky.
The constellations along it are the zodiac. If you see a bright "star" near that line that isn't on a star chart, it's probably a planet.