Venus as seen from Earth

It must be great to talk about dark matter in a black hole and all the other imaginary language that plagues astronomy but there must be some people who have grown beyond the novelties and enjoy what actually exists as people go into the countryside to observe our solar system and our position in it..

http://www.popastro.com/images/plane...ary%202012.jpg

People already put the phases of Venus naturally in context of its orbital position to the central Sun and a moving Earth and this is such a good thing. The next step is the extend the insight to the motion of the Earth itself and how our motion influences the perception of Venus as it moves faster than our slower moving planet.

There is no better graphic,at least presently, where Venus wanders against the background stars ( hence the only definition of 'planet') -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdFrE7hWj0A

The original astronomers used the motion of the Sun through the constellations along with retrograde observations however the time has now arrived when people can confidently partition retrograde perspectives betweeen the slower moving outer planets and the faster moving inner planets.


We should all accept responsibility for traditions inherited from other eras and improving on them as it is not only the content that matters but also the spirit behind our endeavors.