On Wednesday, January 23, 2019 at 11:03:07 PM UTC-8, Gerald Kelleher wrote:
On Thursday, January 24, 2019 at 4:28:23 AM UTC, palsing wrote:
On Wednesday, January 23, 2019 at 11:23:06 AM UTC-8, Gerald Kelleher wrote:

Just discovered the Soho Lasco imaging and it is fascinating...

... and has been fascinating for the last 30 years!

You are just a little late to the party...

Even you now can say that previously astronomers believed that the direct/retrogrades of Venus and Mercury were gauged against the background stars, after all, this is the flawed animation you provided before -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYYwNvjr7Lg

Except... it is not flawed, it is exactly what you would see from the surface of the Earth if only the Sun was not so bright and often 'in the way'. It is just your own logic that is flawed. The motions of the inner planets can be gauged over time with respect to the Sun, sure, but the can also be gauged against the background stars. It doesn't change anything, it is just another perspective to be, as you like to say, enjoyed.

Just because you are not capable of understanding this perspective does not render it invalid.