The subculture that obscured genuine astronomy

The illusory loops (direct/retrograde motion) of the slower moving planets seen from Earth are distinguished from the actual loops (also direct/retrograde motion) of the faster moving Venus and Mercury closer to the Sun -

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160915.html

https://www.popastro.com/images/plan...ary%202012.jpg

So, we see the back and forth motions of Venus and its smaller orbital circumference as it runs its circuit around the Sun.

The theorists following Newton never understood his notions and specifically where he was getting his absolute/relative space and motion. He trumped up an idea of seeing the planets from the Sun to account for direct/retrogrades and so began his pathetic modeling based on motions seen from Earth (relative space and motion) and motions seen from the Sun (absolute space and motion) -

"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

I have no intention of throwing valuable information after bad, however, if people want to throw away the partitioning of direct/retrogrades by perspectives seen from a moving Earth, that is awful considering how easy it is to explain.