The gas giant Jupiter will appear to reverse direction in the night sky from tonight (March 10) onward, bringing an end to its temporary retrograde motion that began in November 2025, which saw it travel westward through the stars of the constellation Gemini.
Under normal circumstances, the outer planets of our solar system — Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — travel eastward through the night sky relative to the fixed starfield beyond. However, each of the planets appears to periodically shift direction and double back on itself.
This trick of perspective is known as retrograde motion, and occurs as Earth — traveling faster in its orbit compared to the outer planets — catches up to and overtakes a planet in the period surrounding opposition, when a planet is opposite the sun in Earth's sky.
Source: www.space.com
No comments:
Post a Comment