Help! Question about Jupiter & Venus...

[Appleblossom]

At last the clouds have rolled by & it is perfect viewing. Can someone explain to me why Jupiter is at about 2 o'clock tonight (right hand side) of Venus when it was at 10pm (left hand side) last night. Does this mean that Jupiter is travelling on a trajectory from left to right? Sorry it's simplistic, still learning [emoji13]

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[ronin]

Cannot say for sure but it might appear to be doing so, not sure if any are in retrograde but I do not thing so at this time. Might be wrong but I do not think that planets inside our orbit show retrograde motion whereas one outside do - any one know for sure ??

However they are going at different orbital rates and then you have to add in that Venus is inside our orbit whereas Jupiter is well outside our orbit, and we are moving as well.

By the time you try and work it all out it is easier just to accept that they move and sometimes apparently quicker then you would expect.

[laudropb]

Venus is inside earths orbit round the Sun and it appears to move across the night sky quicker than Jupiter. It is heading back towards the Sun, hence its apparent change in position with regards to Jupiter

[damnut]

Mars also has this apparent retrograde motion as the earth's orbit 'overtakes' it.

Have a look here, there is a nice graphic mid way down the page :---https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apparent_retrograde_motion

[Paul M]

There are no fixed references in space.

Whats happening is that most of Jupiter's apparent motion in the sky right now is caused by Earth's orbital motion. It's putting the Sun between us and Jupiter. Jupiter is not going retrograde at this time. In any case retrograde motion appears close to opposition not conjunction with the Sun.

So Jupiter is closing in towards the sunset and Venus is picking up in angular motion as it Zooms in between the Earth and the Sun. 

We've just been seeing a bit of Jockeying  for position.

Here's great tool for seeing whats going on. Better if you set the scales to "realistic" in the options : http://www.solarsystemscope.com/