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Neil deGrasse Tyson breaks down the truth about Mercury retrograde
Updated On: 17 November, 2025 09:22 AM IST | Mumbai | Rumani Gabhare
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice decode the Mercury retrograde phenomenon on their hit science podcast StarTalk, using humour and facts
Neil deGrasse Tyson (left) in conversation with Chuck Nice. Pic courtesy/startalk on Youtube
Quick Read
Feeling stuck? Or moody, or maybe just lazy, and unworthy, or whatever you are trying to put your mind to? It is fairly understandable, as the planet Mercury just decided to park itself in retrograde.
Ever wonder what this means? Before getting into the science of it, the hosts set the stage on their weekly podcast StarTalk, where astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson breaks down cosmic misconceptions, and Chuck Nice adds humour and everyday context. According to Tyson, “most of human history or civilisation pre-science as manifested by methods, tools, and hypotheses, which is about 400 years, people usually believed what was told to them, without actually physically testing any theory.”
What is it?
It was the Greeks who initially noticed that some stars were moving along their regular path. These included Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Sun, and the Moon, calling them the wonders. And would it not be strange if all of them kept moving but one suddenly appeared to derail and head the other way? Because Mercury followed this unusual backward path more often than the others, the Greeks named the phenomenon retrograde.
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