This demonstration can be done without the camera and just with two student volunteers. As the camera person keeps the camera on Mars, it appears to move backwards as its orbit is overtaken. Just as passing a slower-moving car on the highway makes that car artificially appear to move backward from your point of view, Mars appears to move backward, or retrograde, relative to the. The camera is pushed in a "circular" orbit by an assistant while the Mars apparatus is also pushed in a circular orbit, at a slower speed. In 2018, retrograde motion began on June 28, with Mars appearing to move from west to east in our sky until Aug. Note that Earth passes between Mars and the Sun at roughly 780 day intervals this interval is known as the Synodic Period of Mars. Mars actually doesn't change its motion at all - retrograde motion is an illusion caused by Earth's motion. Mars is represented by a styrofoam ball hanging from a stand on wheels. Retrograde motion occurs while Earth passes between Mars and the Sun moving faster than Mars. In this demonstration, Earth is represented by a camera on a rolling chair. A schematic of the motion is shown in Figure 1:įigure 1: Apparent retrograde motion of Mars The apparent retrograde part of Mars's orbit occurs for a few months before it returns to motion in the eastward direction. With respect to the background stars, the motion of Mars will then appear to slow down and reverse direction as the Earth comes to the point in its orbit where it is closest to Mars. Both planets move eastward, but since the Earth moves faster than Mars in its orbit, Mars will be overtaken by the faster-moving Earth. These astronomers discovered the laws of orbital mechanics, transforming natural philosophy into the practice of science. As you approach the slower car, it is clearly moving in the same direction you are. The complex motions of the planetswhich sometimes move backwards across the sky ( retrograde motion, shown in the photo)led Renaissance astronomers to question this geocentric theory. Mars has a larger orbit than Earth, and therefore it moves more slowly in its orbit. You can test this the next time you pass a car on the highway. This paper describes the opening laboratory activity in. 4, a simulation of the retrograde motion of Mars is shown, considering now that the sun is at the center of the circles describing their orbits. The most common example of retrograde motion within the solar system is the apparent westward motion of Mars. Mars in the Loop This composite of images spaced some 5 to 9 days apart, from late April (bottom right) through November 5 (top left), traces the retrograde motion of ruddy-colored Mars through planet Earth's night sky. astronomical observations, the retrograde motion of Mars was an important experimental obser- vation. When an object in the sky appears to move backwards with respect to the common motion of the system, it is said to be in retrograde motion.
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