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2. Planetary phase - Wikipedia

   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_phase

   The superior planets, orbiting outside the Earth's orbit, do not exhibit a full range of phases since their maximum phase angles are smaller than 90°. Mars often appears significantly gibbous, it has a maximum phase angle of 45°. Jupiter has a maximum phase angle of 11.1° and Saturn of 6°, [1] so their phases are almost always full.

3. Elongation (astronomy) - Wikipedia

   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elongation_(astronomy)

   This diagram shows various possible elongations (ε), each of which is the angular distance between a planet and the Sun from Earth's perspective. In astronomy, a planet's elongation is the angular separation between the Sun and the planet, with Earth as the reference point. [1] The greatest elongation is the maximum angular separation.

4. Phase angle (astronomy) - Wikipedia

   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase_angle_(astronomy)

   For some objects, such as the Moon (see lunar phases), Venus and Mercury the phase angle (as seen from the Earth) covers the full 0–180° range. The superior planets cover shorter ranges. For example, for Mars the maximum phase angle is about 45°. For Jupiter, the maximum is 11.1° and for Saturn 6°. [1]

5. Quadrature (astronomy) - Wikipedia

   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrature_(astronomy)

   Diagram showing the eastern and western quadratures of a superior planet like Mars. In spherical astronomy, quadrature is the configuration of a celestial object in which its elongation is a right angle (90 degrees), i.e., the direction of the object as viewed from Earth is perpendicular to the position of the Sun relative to Earth.

6. Opposition (astronomy) - Wikipedia

   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_(astronomy)

   Seen from a superior planet, an inferior planet on the opposite side of the Sun is in superior conjunction with the Sun. An inferior conjunction occurs when the two planets align on the same side of the Sun. At inferior conjunction, the superior planet is "in opposition" to the Sun as seen from the inferior planet (see the diagram).

7. Inferior and superior planets - Wikipedia

   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferior_and_superior_planets

   In the reference frame of the Earth, where the terms were originally used, the inferior planets are Mercury and Venus, while the superior planets are Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Dwarf planets like Ceres or Pluto and most asteroids are 'superior' in the sense that they almost all orbit outside the orbit of Earth.

8. Deferent and epicycle - Wikipedia

   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deferent_and_epicycle

   Each night the planet appeared to lag a little behind the stars, in what is called prograde motion. Near opposition, the planet would appear to reverse and move through the night sky faster than the stars for a time in retrograde motion before reversing again and resuming prograde. Epicyclic theory, in part, sought to explain this behavior.

9. Antikythera mechanism - Wikipedia

   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism

   The inferior planet mechanism includes the Sun (treated as a planet in this context), Mercury, and Venus. [7] For each of the three systems, there is an epicyclic gear whose axis is mounted on b1, thus the basic frequency is the Earth year (as it is, in truth, for epicyclic motion in the Sun and all the planets—excepting only the Moon).