At one point in time, Venus was in the greatest eastern elongation for both earthlings and observers on Mars.
September 17, 2020 | Education
| At one point in time, Venus was in the greatest eastern elongation for both earthlings and observers on Mars. At what angular distance from the Sun was Mars visible on Earth at this moment? Consider the orbits of all three planets circular
Since Venus was in the greatest eastern elongation for both Earth and Mars, these two planets were located in a direction perpendicular to the radius vector of Venus. The angular distance of Venus from the Sun on Earth during its greatest elongation is 47 °, hence Mars was 133 ° from the Sun to the west.
