Mars Motion as seen from Earth. You can use Starry Night Enthusiast™ to monitor the motion of Mars as seen from the Earth, as the Red planet moves against the background stars. First press the Home...

Mars Motion as seen from Earth. You can use Starry Night Enthusiast™ to monitor the motion of Mars as seen from the Earth, as the Red planet moves against the background stars. First press the Home and Now buttons. Open the Favourites menu and click on Guides
 Atlas to position yourself at the center of a transparent Earth. Open the Labels menu and click on Planets-Moons and Stars to remove these labels. Open the Find pane and double-click over Mars to center the view on this planet. Set the Time Flow Rate to 1 sidereal day and run time forward (press Play ) to watch Mars move against the background stars. Note that the equatorial coordinate system usually flows smoothly past Mars since you are centered upon that planet. However, you will see that Mars begin to slow down as time progresses. Stop time advance when Mars appears almost to stop in its motion. Right-click on a nearby star and click Center to lock your view upon this background star. Run time forward and describe how Mars now moves relative to the coordinate system and the background stars. Run time backward to where Mars is at its stationary point furthest to the east (leftward) position and stop time again. Change the Time Flow Rate to 5 sidereal days and single-step the time forward, tracing Mars’ motion on tracing paper or transparent film with a soft felt pen. What do we call this odd motion of Mars? What would you expect its phase to be at the mid-point between the two stationary points at which East-West motion ceases for a short time? Move time until Mars is at approximately this mid-position, center upon this planet and check your conclusion by zooming in on Mars.