Station

A planet makes a station when it appears motionless before reversing direction in its orbit as viewed from the Earth. It can occur when going from retrograde to direct, or from direct to retrograde. Ptolemy used two words for station, "stasis," meaning a standing or a posture, and "sterigmous," meaning a propping or supporting and by association fixedness. The planets appear to stand still. Ptolemy used the stations of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn to mark periods