Use Stellarium to see the retrograde motion of a planet such...

Use Stellarium to see the retrograde motion of a planet such as Mars. You need to observe the motion of the planet with respect to fixed background stars. Hence you may observe the change in its position as you advance in units of a sidereal day. The retrograde motion is seen only when Mars approaches close to Earth. Hence you need to determine the time when this event happens. This can be easily done by experimenting with the software.

Look up the dates for the next opposition of Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn. One source is the NASA "Sky Events Calendar" at http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html. Check only the "Planet Events" box in "Section 2: Sky Events"; and in Section $3,$ generate a calendar or table for the year. As noted in Connections 3.1 , opposition means that the planet will be opposite the Sun in the sky, so it will rise at sunset and set at sunrise. It is also during opposition that the planet is closest to Earth and you can observe retrograde motion. If you are coming up on an opposition, take pictures of the planet over the next few weeks. Can you see its position move in retrograde fashion with respect to the background stars?

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