Explanation for the mathematics behind Venus' retrograde motion I've always been interested by the pattern within Venus' orbit around the sun. I found this image and formula of its retrograde motion in the upper right hand corner which confused me. What does it mean? can someone break this down in layman's terms?



Thank you
The really simple explanation is that Venus' orbital period is 225 days. Earth's is 365 days.

That ratio is 13:8 (well, more accurately 12.9777777777..:8) so you can see that your complete cycle is 13 orbits of Venus to 8 of Earth, but within that cycle our view of Venus travelling round the sun gives the pretty pattern as shown in your image.

This YouTube video is quite a nice visualisation - should make it easy to understand.