Venus seen low, then high

Event Date: April 7th
Time: 7:00 PM

Brief

  Over the last two days, I have shown celestial paths for two planets: Mars, and Jupiter, which have mean distance differences from the Sun of about 300 million miles.  The result of this difference, is Mars moving a little more than six times faster against the stars during peaks for pro-grade and retrograde movements; the former happening during the hours of conjunction and the latter happening during those of opposition.
This evening, I will show a different type of path: the local one.  Whereas the celestial marks the path east and west against the stars for a planet, the local shows the path relative to the horizon in altitude and azimuth (alt/az).  For a good understanding of what a local path looks like in comparison to the celestial ones I have shown so far, look here:

*click on image to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp.

Detailed

   Normally when posting a local path over the course of several months, the path traces out the alt/az at the same time of each date on the clock.  Other times, if plotting a local path of a planet or the Sun throughout the day during rise and set, the local path acts as a reminder of the declination of the body. During the winter in our hemisphere, the path traces a low arc from the east-southeast to the west-southwest, transiting low in the south.  During the summer, a much larger arc is shown, with rising in the east-northeast, setting in the west-northwest, and transiting high, closer to zenith than the horizon; for the dates on or near the equinoxes, the transit altitude would be close to in between those of the solstices.  In short, plotting the local path can give a good understanding of our Earth's axis tilt, and our Sun's position for each season.  For the image, we see the very interesting path that Venus shows, as first moves from a mid-declination on our celestial dome to a southern one, and then gradually to a northern one.  How is this determined?  Look at the curve downward, and than sharply upward!  The path covers the last seven months dating back to August 7th, which was about the last time that we saw the Sun positioned at this hour, at the alt/az shown.  By selecting this duration to show the Sun that way, it helps show the path from start to finish.
NOTE: I am intentionally not including the celestial equator or ecliptic in this image, since during the seven months, the geometry of the western sky has changed dramatically enough that showing the path of the Sun for today's date would just add to confusion to Venus' local path.  Notice also, that now that Venus is past greatest elongation, that the curve upwards is starting to "level off".