Apparent retrograde motion is the apparent motion of a planet in a direction opposite to that of other bodies within its system, as observed from a particular vantage point. Direct motion or prograde motion is motion in the same direction as other bodies.
While the terms direct and prograde are equivalent in this context, the former is the traditional term in astronomy. The earliest recorded use of prograde was in the early 18th century, although the term is now less common.[1]
The term retrograde is from the Latin word retrogradus – "backward-step", the affix retro- meaning "backwards" and gradus "step". Retrograde is most commonly an adjective used to describe the path of a planet as it travels through the night sky, with respect to the zodiac, stars, and other bodies of the celestial canopy. In this context, the term refers to planets, as they appear from Earth, stopping briefly and reversing direction at certain times, though in reality, of course, we now understand that they perpetually orbit in the same uniform direction.[2]
Although planets can sometimes be mistaken for stars as one observes the night sky, the planets actually change position from night to night in relation to the stars. Retrograde (backward) and prograde (forward) are observed as though the stars revolve around the Earth. Ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy in 150 AD believed that the Earth was the center of the Solar System and therefore used the terms retrograde and prograde to describe the movement of the planets in relation to the stars. Although it is known today that the planets revolve around the Sun, the same terms continue to be used in order to describe the movement of the planets in relation to the stars as they are observed from Earth. Like the Sun, the planets appear to rise in the East and set in the West. When a planet travels eastward in relation to the stars, it is called prograde. When the planet travels westward in relation to the stars (opposite path) it is called retrograde.[3]
When standing on the Earth looking up at the sky, it would appear that the Moon travels from east to west, just as the Sun and the stars do. Day after day however, the Moon appears to move to the east with respect to the stars. In fact, the Moon orbits the Earth from west to east, as do the vast majority of manmade satellites such as the International Space Station. The apparent westward motion of the Moon from the Earth's surface is actually an artifact of its being in a supersynchronous orbit. This means that the Earth completes one sidereal rotation before the Moon is able to complete one orbit. As a result, it looks like the Moon is travelling in the opposite direction, otherwise known as apparent retrograde motion. A person standing on Earth "catches up" to the Moon and passes it because the Earth completes one rotation before the Moon completes one orbit.
This phenomenon also occurs on Mars, which has two natural satellites, Phobos and Deimos. Both moons orbit Mars in an eastward (prograde) direction; however, Deimos has an orbital period of 1.23 Martian sidereal days, making it supersynchronous, whereas Phobos has an orbital period of 0.31 Martian sidereal days, making it subsynchronous. Consequently, although both moons are traveling in an eastward (prograde) direction, they appear to be traveling in opposite directions when viewed from the surface of Mars due to their orbital periods in relation to the rotational period of the planet.