Some times, planets appear to be traveling clockwise, rather than counterclockwise, in their orbits. What is this motion called?
1 Answer
Mar 1, 2016
It is relative motion. This is analogous to the apparent reverse motion of slow- moving car, when you proceed to overtake with higher speed..
Explanation:
The planets revolve about the Sun with slower angular speed. Despite that all are revolving in the same sense, an outer planet appear to move in the opposite sense, since its relative angular speed is negative.
The periods of planets increase with distance from the Sun.
The angular speeds of planets decrease with distance.
If you observe the Earth from Venus, Earth would appear to move in clockwise sense.
