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 practically equals eight Earth years. As a matter of reality, the cycle was identified to, and of nice curiosity to, historic peoples such because the Maya. At this time, many realize 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 occasions. Then, over the following eight years, they repeat 5 occasions nearly identically.
For Venus, the tight inward loops on the diagram above and animation under are the planet’s inferior conjunctions, wherein Venus passes between us and the sun. And the large swings are centered on the superior conjunctions, when Venus passes across the far aspect of the sun from us. So the overall sample is (as Anthony Barreiro commented):
… a beautiful five-petalled rose.
So the tight loops are the stamens of the rose, and the large swings are the petals.
Visualizing the petals of Venus
Beneath is an animation, displaying 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 entire rose, it was bewilderingly cluttered. In reality. 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 shifting the perspective 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 originally 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) but it surely doesn’t matter significantly. You’ll be able to 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 following, you see that they don’t seem to be adjoining to one another however 2/5 of the way in which 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’ (principally 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 way in which, you may presently take pleasure in seeing sensible Venus within the west for a number of hours after sundown. It’s presently near the planet Saturn. And subsequent month it will likely be close to the planet Jupiter.
Backside line: Be taught concerning the eight-year cycle of Venus in our sky and the petals of Venus, a rhythmic movement of Venus when seen from an Earth-centered perspective.
