Man Ottewell initially revealed this text as a weblog publish at his web site, Universal Workshop. Reprinted right here with permission.
What’s the pentagram or petals of Venus?
When plotted geocentrically – from an Earth-centered perspective – there’s a extremely noticeable rhythm within the movement of Venus. After eight years, it returns to the identical place in our sky on about the identical date. This is named the eight-year cycle of Venus, and stems from the truth that 13 Venusian orbits (13 x 224.8 days) very almost equals eight Earth years. As a matter of reality, the cycle was identified to, and of nice curiosity to, historical peoples such because the Maya. Right this moment, many understand it because the pentagram or petals of Venus.
The phrase pentagram – or five-sided determine – is as a result of, over the eight years, every phenomenon – every relative place of Earth, Venus, and the sun – happens 5 instances. Then, over the subsequent eight years, they repeat 5 instances virtually identically.
For Venus, the tight inward loops on the diagram above and animation under are the planet’s inferior conjunctions, during which Venus passes between us and the sun. And the huge swings are centered on the superior conjunctions, when Venus passes across the far facet of the sun from us. So the final sample is (as Anthony Barreiro commented):
… a stunning five-petalled rose.
So the tight loops are the stamens of the rose, and the huge swings are the petals.
Visualizing the petals of Venus
Beneath is an animation, exhibiting the identical factor … the orbit of Venus from an Earth-centered perspective. The smaller pale yellow dot is Venus, and the bigger yellow ball is the sun.
Once I tried to plot a geocentric image over eight years (2016-2023) to point out the whole rose, it was bewilderingly cluttered. In actual fact. it had 5 overlapping tracks, eight-times-twelve little Venus globes at month-to-month intervals – already an excessive amount of with out the ecliptic-plane grid and different particulars.
So the picture on the prime of this publish is a extra simplified model: nonetheless calculated in three dimensions, however by transferring the point of view to the north ecliptic pole, it turns into a flat plan of Venus’ path.
Earth is within the center; the vernal-equinox route is to the fitting; the yellow spots are the sun firstly of every month.
The remainder is the rhythmic motions of Venus.
You’ll nonetheless have bother deciphering which a part of the monitor is for which 12 months (on the picture at prime, I’ve used white, cyan, magenta, yellow for 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and once more for 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023) nevertheless it doesn’t matter tremendously. You possibly can see the 5 inferior conjunctions, of their 5 instructions.
The Pentagram of Venus
If you happen to hint throughout the circle from every loop to the subsequent, you see that they aren’t adjoining to one another however 2/5 of the best way round, just like the 5 factors of a pentagram.
Previous and future inferior conjunctions of Venus
The instructions of the 5 inferior conjunctions of Venus decide their differing characters, by figuring out their locations in Venus’ true (heliocentric) orbit, which is tilted and barely elliptical.
Mar 25, 2017: is in Pisces; Venus passes 8 levels north of the sun; distance from us 0.28 AU (astronomical units, aka sun-Earth distances); diameter of Venus’ (largely darkish) disk 60″ (arcseconds).
Oct 26, 2018: is in Virgo; 6 levels south of the sun; 0.27 AU; 62″.
Jun 3, 2020: is in Taurus; 0.5 diploma north of the sun; 0.29 AU; 58″.
Jan 9, 2022: is in Sagittarius; 5 levels north of the sun; 0.27 AU; 63″.
Aug 13, 2023: is on the Most cancers-Leo-Hydra border; 7 levels south of the sun; 0.29 AU; 58″.
By the best way, you possibly can at present get pleasure from seeing sensible Venus within the west for just a few hours after sundown. It’s presently near the planet Saturn. And subsequent month it is going to be close to the planet Jupiter.
Backside line: Study concerning the eight-year cycle of Venus in our sky and the petals of Venus, a rhythmic movement of Venus when considered from an Earth-centered perspective.
