We can mark a point on ellipse using
\node[Maroon,draw,fill,circle,inner sep=1pt,label={-90:$X$}] (X) at (-120:2cm and 1cm) {};
Is there any way to define a point on parabola?
\documentclass[border=2pt]{standalone}
\usepackage[usenames,dvipsnames,svgnames]{xcolor}
\usepackage{tikz}
\color{Maroon}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\draw[thin,gray!50](-3,-2) grid (3,2);
\draw[Maroon,thick] (0,0) ellipse (2cm and 1cm);
\node[Maroon,draw,fill,circle,inner sep=1pt,label={-90:$X$}] (X) at (-120:2cm and 1cm) {};
\draw[red] (-1,0) parabola[parabola height=1.5cm] (2,0);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}
decorations.markings
and do\draw[red,postaction={decorate,decoration={markings, mark=at position 0.2 with {% \node[red,draw,fill,circle,inner sep=1pt,label={-90:$Y$}](Y){};}}}] (-1,0) parabola[parabola height=1.5cm] (2,0);
? Here the position plays the same role as the angle, it parametrizes the position of the location.