That should be the faster moving Venus and Mercury cannot be gauged against the 'fixed stars' background as the slower moving direct/retrogrades of the outer planets are -

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap011220.html

Unless the line-of-sight change in position of the stars close to the Sun are accounted for by the orbital motion of the Earth, it is impossible to make sense of the motions of Mercury and Venus as they run their smaller circuits around the Sun relative to the larger orbital circumference of the Earth.

https://www.universetoday.com/wp-con...T_edited-1.jpg