Why do superior planets retrograde

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Astronomy: General. Enter your search terms:. The most common direction of motion in the solar system, both for orbital revolution and axial rotation, is from west to east counterclockwise as seen from the north celestial pole ; revolution or rotation in the opposite direction is actual retrograde motion. Three of the superior planets: Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be the focus of this lab.

The concepts of opposition, conjunction and retrograde motion will be introduced. All the planets orbit around the Sun in the same direction in nearly circular orbits.

They also orbit in nearly the same plane. This makes it relatively easy to identify planets in the sky as they will always be somewhere close to the ecliptic. The path a planet takes in the sky is determined by how far it is from the Sun. Planets closer to the Sun than Earth, the so called inferior planets , exhibit motion quite different from planets that lie further form the Sun, the so called superior planets.

The Inferior Planets — Mercury and Venus. Queen guitarist Brian May and David Eicher launch new astronomy book. Last chance to join our Costa Rica Star Party! Learn about the Moon in a great new book New book chronicles the space program.

Dave's Universe Year of Pluto. Groups Why Join? Astronomy Day. The Complete Star Atlas. Q: On page 51 of the February issue, there is a picture claiming to show Venus in retrograde. So please explain how Venus could be in retrograde, or was this a mistake? Turns out, Venus almost has tectonic plates.

How to see the Venus and Mars conjunction this month. Because the earth orbits the sun faster than the outer planets Mars, Jupiter, Saturn the apparent position of those superior planets, viewed against the backdrop of the 'fixed stars', appears to undergo a 'looping' retrograde motion.

Put differently, when a superior planet 'retrogrades' it appears first to move in its direct order, it then slows down and appears to stop stationary point one. The planet then reverses its direction undergoes retrograde motion.

After reversing direction, it again slows down and appears to stop a second time stationary point two.