Copy of Observing Venus
- Author:
- Vladimir Bodik, Victor Hui
Figure(left): Orbital view of Venus (North normal to plane).
Figure(right): Territorial view of Venus by a south facing observer on the northern hemisphere.
Start and stop the animation to pause the simulation when
(a) Venus is visible at dawn
(b) Venus is visible at dusk
(c) Inferior conjunction (alignment of Earth-Venus-Sun)
(d) Superior conjuction (alignment of Earth-Sun-Venus)
(e) Maximum elongation
(f) Venus is in retrograde motion
Model parameters:
(i) Earth Sun distance = 1AU; Earth orbital period = 365 days;
(ii) Venus Sun distance = 0.72AU; Venus orbital period = 85 days;
Further improvements
(a) The phase of Venus
(b) Seasonal variation of the ecliptic
(c) Non-circular orbits
(d) Non-coplanar orbits.