Retrograde Motion of Mars in a Geocentric Model

To account for the apparent backward looping of the planet, Claudius Ptolemy (fl. 140 AD)
devised a very elegant geometrical construction to describe this motion.. The Earth sat near
the center of the universe. The planets moved around a small circle (the epicycle) which in
turn moved along a larger circle (the deferent). The deferent was centered on a point (X)
midway between the Earth and another spot called the equant. This complicated setup was
needed to explain the complex motions of the planets. Specifically, the planet moved with
uniform angular speed around the center of the epicycle, and in turn, the center of the
epicycle moved with uniform angular speed around the equant point. The equant point, by
definition, was an imaginary point situated near the earth. Its exact position varied from
planet to planet. In each case its location was determined by observation and calculation.