What are some common misconceptions about retrograde motion that need to be addressed in education?

As viewed from a position in space north of the solar system (from some great distance above the Earth's North Pole), all the major planets revolve ... Unlike the Sun and Moon, however, the planets don't always make steady progress along the ecliptic. They usually move in the same direction as the Sun (i.e., ... Apr 7, 2025 ... This is why we call the phenomenon apparent retrograde motion, as it only looks like the planet is moving backward (“retrograde motion”)!. When ... Feb 9, 2016 ... Ptolemy modeled the planets making small circles around a point that orbited the Earth. These smaller circles were called epicycles, and they allowed the ... This is termed direct or prograde motion. However, occasionally a planet's track across the celestial sphere slows, stops and then reverses direction for a ... Aug 24, 2023 ... Mercury isn't actually moving backward in its orbit around the Sun. Retrograde motion is an optical illusion caused by all the planets ... May 22, 2021 ... At specific periods of time, a planet can start moving “backward” — from east to west. This westward movement is called apparent retrograde ... During retrograde motion the planets increase their brightness. It is natural to interpret a change of brightness, ie, of apparent size, as a change in ... Jul 16, 2014 ... Nunes did the calculations and showed that retrograde motion of the shadow was possible under some conditions, and worked out exactly what the conditions were. Jul 6, 2023 ... This video describes the science behind retrograde motion! Animation at 2:30 is from Dominic Ford. You can find his work at: in-the-sky.org ...