Chapter 8: The Sun's two moons - Mercury & Venus
In the TYCHOS - as briefly mentioned in Chapter 3 - the two ‘planets’ known as Mercury and Venus are, in actuality, the two moons of the Sun (much like Phobos and Deimos are the two moons of Mars). We shall now see how this can be demonstrated in a number of ways, and why this is not just a mundane matter of nomenclature. Unlike planets, moons have no lunar satellites of their own, rotate exceptionally slowly around their axes – and are tidally locked to their hosts. To wit, a moon is a moon – and should not be called a ‘planet’.
MERCURY : THE SUN'S JUNIOR MOON
Mercury was a grave matter of concern for astronomers in the last century, with its seemingly erratic behavior. Since the precession of its perihelion was in conflict with Newtonian predictions (thus threatening the fundamental physics of the heliocentric theory), Einstein pulled out of his hat some fancy ideas which, basically, told us that we cannot trust our eyes. Yet, we shall leave this for later (the much-debated 'anomalous precession of Mercury's perihelion' will be duly addressed in Chapter 22) and focus for now on the periodic motions of the Sun's 'junior moon'.
As it turns out, Mercury’s behavior is not so erratic at all. Yes, its orbital plane is slightly inclined (as viewed from Earth) in relation to the Sun’s orbital plane, which causes its elevation vis-à-vis the Sun to oscillate quite a bit, yet it simply revolves around the Sun in lunar fashion. Its synodic period is 116.88 days (on average), which is just about 4X the time needed for our Moon to return facing the Sun - as viewed from Earth. (Note also that, as we saw in Chapter 3, 116.88 days is the time employed by Venus to revolve around its own axis!).
Under the Copernican model, these would some most "extraordinary coincidences" - since the orbital paths of Mercury, Venus and our Moon are considered to be wholly independent and 'unrelated' to each other. Conversely, under the TYCHOS model's paradigm, these seemingly uncanny orbital resonances between our Moon, Mercury and Venus take are to be fully expected - given the ostensibly 'magnetic' nature of our Solar System.
Now, is Mercury tidally (or 'magnetically') locked to the Sun in some way, just as our Moon is tidally locked to Earth? Until around the year 1965, every astronomer in the world would have told you that, yes, Mercury is indeed tidally locked with the Sun (meaning that it always shows the same face to its host). That was the year that official NASA and Russian Space Agency sources announced with great fanfare that, according to their modern radar data, Mercury was not, after all, tidally locked with the Sun. This caused an uproar in the astronomy community and the question is still debated to this day. However, when viewed under the TYCHOS model's configuration (which has Mercury revolving around the Earth - and not vice versa) it becomes self-evident that both Mercury and Venus are tidally locked to their host - the Sun.
Mercury’s Short and Long ESI (Empiric Sidereal Interval)
Every 7 years, an Earthly observer will see Mercury realign six times with any given star at ca. 358-day intervals. However, the 7th time, it will “run late” by about 50 days and only line up again with the star in 408 days. Why does this take place? You guessed it: just like Mars, Mercury also has two Empiric Sidereal Intervals: a “Short ESI” and a “Long ESI”.
In 14 years, Mercury completes 12 Short ESIs (of ca. 358 days) and two Long ESIs (about 50 days longer). Below is a charted sample of a 14-year Mercury cycle (from July 6, 1998 to July 5, 2012) which I compiled perusing the NEAVE online Planetarium.
I chose to start counting Mercury’s yearly revolutions at a specific moment in time, i.e. just as it entered a Long ESI and transited in front of a given reference star. For my below chart, I used the star “Asellus Australis” in the Cancer constellation as a celestial reference point. I found that Mercury lined up with "Asellus Australis" on the following dates:
14 successive sidereal periods of MERCURY:
TOTAL : 5113 days
Average sidereal period of Mercury:
5113 / 14 ≈ 365.22 (or near-exactly 1 solar year).
We thus have a pattern which repeats every 7 years – yielding a mean figure of Mercury’s sidereal period amounting to 365.22 days. In other words, if you know when and where to start computing Mercury’s celestial motions, you will find that Mercury is very much locked with the Sun’s yearly orbit around Earth. This is because Mercury is a moon of the Sun.
It is truly perplexing that, as far as I know, no one has noticed to this day the fact that Mercury’s sidereal periods can be averaged out (in spite of their irregularity) to nigh precisely 1 solar year. To be sure, this would constitute a most astounding “synchronicity” under the heliocentric model (wherein the Earth and Mercury supposedly revolve at different speeds - and different 'lanes' - around the Sun).
You may now be asking yourself, “why does the TYCHOS model contend that Mercury’s mean synodic period amounts to 116.88 days rather than 115.88 days - as stated in most astronomy tables?” Well, here is a series of 14 successive synodic periods I have personally verified for Mercury - over a 1636-day time span.
Note: a synodic period is the time interval between two successive conjunctions of any given celestial body with the Sun.
14 successive synodic periods of MERCURY:
Source: NEAVE Planetarium
Average: 1636 / 14 ≈ 116.86 days
Hence, my 116.88-day value for Mercury’s true mean synodic period appears to be virtually on the mark.
VENUS : THE SUN'S SENIOR MOON
It has been observed that Venus invariably presents the same face (to us earthly observers) each time it transits closest to Earth, every 584.4 days or so. Note that Venus is, of all our surrounding celestial bodies, the one that passes closest to Earth.
As it is, this apparent tidal locking of Venus with Earth is, still today, a complete mystery to modern astronomy. Of course, according to the Copernican model, Earth travels at its own speed around a larger orbit than Venus, which in turn travels somewhat faster around its smaller orbit, yet Venus always appears to show the same face to us each time it passes closest to the Earth (i.e. when Venus is at so-called inferior conjunction with the Sun). Once more, this would be yet another bizarre "synchronicity” - as viewed under the heliocentric theory! In fact, today's astronomers consider this a 'still unsolved mystery' and readily admit that they have no explanation for it (see below quotes)...
“The periods of Venus’ rotation and of its orbit are synchronized such that it always presents the same face toward Earth when the two planets are at their closest approach. Whether this is a resonance effect or merely a coincidence is not known.”
— "Venus facts" - Nineplanets.org (opens in a new tab)
“Every 584 days, Venus and Earth come to their point of closest approach. And every time this happens, Venus shows Earth the same face. Is there some force that makes Venus align itself with the Earth rather than the Sun, or is this just a coincidence?”
— "Meet the Neighbours" - ABC Science/the Lab (2017) (opens in a new tab)
“Whether this relationship arose by chance or is the result of some kind of tidal locking with Earth is unknown.”
— “Tidal locking” - Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)
“Tidal locking of Venus planet: (...) so that the Venus planet shows always almost the same face to the Earth planet during each meeting, and shows that same face to both Earth and Sun during heliocentric opposition of Earth and Venus planets.”
— "Orbital resonance and Solar cycles" - by P.A. Semi (March 2009) (opens in a new tab)
Everyone knows of this "baffling" fact, but who can explain it? In the TYCHOS model, of course, this fact is considerably less mysterious: Venus, just like Mercury, is tidally locked with its host (the Sun), quite simply because they are the Sun's moons - much like our Moon is tidally locked to its host (planet Earth).
Venus employs 584.4 days to return to perigee. This is somewhat longer than 1.5 solar years (365.25 X 1.5 = 547.875 days), the difference being:
584.4 – 547.875 = 36.525 days - or 1/10th of 365.25 days and 1/16th of 584.4 days.
In fact, for every 16 solar revolutions around Earth, Venus transits behind the Sun (i.e. in apogee) 10 times. Every 8 years, Venus transits closest to Earth (i.e. in 'perigee') 5 times. Every 16 years Venus conjuncts with Mars (albeit at diametrically opposed sides of Earth) and every 32 years or so Venus and Mars re-conjunct, this time on the same side of Earth. The entire system is not just composed of magnetically-locked micro systems but is itself a perfectly synchronized system with each component relating to the other. Venus has an 8-year cycle (2922 days) during which Venus completes 5 synodic periods of 584.4 days each (or 1.6 years).
365.25 X 8 = 2922 days - and - 584.4 X 5 = 2922 days
As you may note for later, this is precisely one hundred 29.22-day periods - i.e. the “TMSP”*.
(*The TMSP, our Moon’s True Mean Synodic Period of 29.22 days, will be duly explicated in Chapter 13).
VERIFYING THE 584.4-DAY VALUE FOR VENUS' SYNODIC PERIOD
Someone may object that the average Venus’ synodic period (as stated in official astronomy tables) is 583.9 days and not 584.4. I challenge that figure with the following evidence. Here follow a series of five successive synodic periods which I have personally verified perusing the NEAVE Planetarium.
All planetary and lunar orbits are slightly eccentric (i.e. off-center) with respect to the body they revolve around (though please note this is entirely different from Kepler’s presumed elliptical orbits which do not exist as such in the TYCHOS: do not confuse eccentricity with ellipticity). These synodic period values fluctuate somewhat over time. We know that Venus realigns five times with the Sun in 8 years. We know that after 8 years, it roughly realigns with the Sun and the same star. Since we know these things, we should therefore obtain a more correct and significant mean synodic period by averaging five synodic periods of Venus.
5 successive synodic periods of VENUS:
Total: 2922 days (or exactly 365.25 X 8)
Average length of Venus synodic period: 2922 / 5 = 584.4
The TYCHOS “584.4” value for the mean synodic period of Venus is therefore beyond dispute, since it can be empirically observed.
As current theory has it, Venus rotates around its axis in a clockwise fashion. This, however, is an unproven claim (much like the “non-tidally-locked Mercury” claim) which apparently originates from purported radar surveys performed back in the 1960’s. Countless debates about this specific issue can be found in astronomy literature - yet none has ever reached a definitive conclusion about this matter.
The reason why heliocentrists reckon that Venus rotates around its axis in clockwise (or 'retrograde') fashion is, in all likelihood, an illusion caused by their heliocentric perspective: since Venus employs more than one year (in fact, 1.6 solar years) to return to perigee - and since they (erroneously) believe that the Earth, during this time, also revolves around Venus, their reckoning of Venus's (axial) rotational direction will be faulty.
THE RETROGRADE MOTIONS OF MERCURY AND VENUS (AND MARS)
The fact that our planets appear to periodically come to a halt and start moving ‘backwards’ for a few weeks or months - and then resume moving prograde (i.e. ‘forward’) again - is something that has mystified astronomers over the ages. It certainly is the most striking phenomenon affecting our planets’ motions - as viewed from Earth. To be sure, and contrary to popular belief, these (irregular) retrograde motions have never been accounted for in a satisfactory - or even plausible - manner, as we saw at the end of Chapter 5.
"Parallax: the Race to Measure the Cosmos" - by Alan W. Hirshfeld (2001) (opens in a new tab)
The retrograde periods of Venus and Mercury - the Sun’s two moons - occur in a similar mode as those of Mars: they both produce "teardrop-shaped" loops as they transit in inferior conjunction with the Sun. It is a perfectly natural, dynamic geometric pattern (known in geometry as an epitrochoid) yet one that the human mind has, understandably, some difficulty to process mentally. My below conceptual graphic should help visualize how and why these “teardrop loops” occur.
Hence, these retrograde motions are not merely an illusion of perspective – as the Copernican heliocentrists will tell you. These apparent ‘backward motions’ (as observed from Earth) are part and parcel of the actual physical paths traced by the various celestial bodies of our Solar System. In the above cartoon, our cowboy’s torch will leave a teardrop-shaped smoke plume because the torch actually swirled around that patch of sky. As viewed from our central frame of reference (the Earth) it will appear as if that swirling torch periodically reverses direction - but of course, this isn't the case: the “teardrop loop” is simply a consequence of the horse’s forward motion coupled with the gyrating lasso’s circular motion.
The below screenshot from the Tychosium 3D simulator highlights a retrograde period of each of the Sun’s two moons.
The retrograde period of Mercury lasts for ca. 22.828 days on average — or 1/16th of a solar year.
The retrograde period of Venus lasts for ca. 45.656 days on average — or 1/8th of a solar year.
During the above periods, we see Mercury and Venus moving in the opposite direction of the Sun. Thereafter, they resume so-called “prograde” motion, moving West-to-East against the starry background - along with the Sun (of course, we always perceive the Sun as moving from East-to-West, but that is due to Earth’s daily West-to-East axial rotation).
The prograde period of Mercury lasts for ca. 94 days on average.
The prograde period of Venus lasts for ca. 538.7 days on average.
During these much longer prograde periods, Mercury and Venus would be seen (from the Earth) moving in the same direction as the Sun. Of course, in actuality, the two solar moons are not visible from Earth whenever they transit behind the Sun.
Note that there is nothing elliptical about the motions of Venus and Mercury. They both revolve around the Sun in uniformly circular paths (and at constant speeds), even though their orbital axes are ‘eccentric’ to some degree (meaning that they are off-center in relation to their host - the Sun).
In the next chapter, I shall illustrate a most striking aspect of the orbits of Venus and Mercury which provides conclusive evidence that they are the moons of the Sun; namely, the fact that their orbits are inclined along the Sun's 'mysterious' axial tilt of 6° or 7°. Venus & Mercury are therefore not just the only two bodies of our Solar System which have no moons of their own; they are also the only two bodies whose orbits are coplanar with the Sun's equatorial ecliptic!