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Retrograde motion for Mars starts today
- Mars will begin its retrograde motion on December 7, 2024, a trick of perspective that creates an illusion of backward motion in front of the stars, lasting for some months.
- As Earth moves between the sun and Mars, the planets seem to reverse course in our sky.
- Retrograde motion for Mars will continue through mid-February 2025.
- The red planet will first reach a stationary point at 21 UTC on December 7, 2024, pausing briefly in front of the stars before moving westward.
- Early astronomers used to believe that planets, including Mars, orbited the Earth and spun around it in an epicycle, justifying their retrograde movement.
- Planets and moons can have true backward motion amongst themselves, with Venus and Triton, Neptune's largest moon, rotating in retrograde directions.
- The one word "retrograde" is used to signify either an illusion of backward motion or the actual backward rotation or orbit of a planet or moon.
- Modern astronomers believe that a true retrograde orbit for an orbiting moon might stem from a capture after colliding with a body or encountering another planet or star too closely.
- Astronomers discovered exoplanets that have retrograde orbits, puzzling scientists because planets usually form out of orbiting disks that share the star’s rotation.
- Close encounters can disrupt the orbits of planets and set them on a backward path.
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