Mercury passes the Earth's heliocentric orbital position

http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Solar

I enjoyed the images of Mercury finally reaching and overtaking the
Earth in our common orbital motions around the central star.As an
affirmation of heliocentric astronomy ,modern imaging makes it the
greatest and easiest way to appreciate how Copernicus reasoned that we
are orbiting the central star between the orbits of Venus and Mars.

The silly celestial sphere geometers,following the incompetent Newton,
think that you have to look out from the Sun to see orbital motions
directly * which is why they only can manage 'mercury crosses the face
of the Sun'.

Looking out from Mercury at the motion of Earth,our planet would
appear to move backwards against the stellar background just as when we
overtake Mars,Jupiter and Saturn we see those outer planets appear to
fall behind -

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ima...2000_tezel.gif


I get to enjoy the great Western astronomical insights whether looking
out onb the slower moving outer planets or the faster moving inner
planets as an affirmation of the vibrant reasoning of Copernicus.Where
is youth now to wrest control of astronomy from the dull and dreary
celestial sphere peep show by people who think astronomy is an exercise
in magnification.Any person who attempts to fight for the astronomical
heritage will be repaid in real satisfaction which generates a
productive nature that has been denied for so long.

Who needs to listen to the dull and dreary mathematician guessing his
way with astronomical material when modern imaging makes understanding
heliocentric geometrical insights so easy to understand.



* "For to the earth planetary motions appear sometimes direct,
sometimes stationary, nay, and sometimes retrograde. But from the sun
they are always seen direct.." Newton