Tuesday 2nd April 2024
The waxing half-moon invites exploration and expansion of horizons today, as it aligns with the fixed stars of the archer. Additionally, in the evening sky, Mercury and Jupiter are visible to the naked eye. It's worth noting that Mercury is currently in retrograde, an illusion created by its faster orbit alongside Earth's, which gives the impression of backward motion. This phenomenon puzzled ancient Greek geocentric astronomer Ptolemy, who devised elaborate planetary orbits with countless loops to explain retrograde. However, the heliocentric model later provided a clearer explanation, revealing retrograde as simply an optical illusion from the perspective of Earth.
