Venus retrograde 2011

No retrograde period falls inside 2011. That is not an omission — the loop lands either side of the year boundary.

Why a year can have none

A retrograde recurs every 583.92 days — the synodic period of Venus. Because that does not divide evenly into 365.25 days, the loops drift through the calendar. For the slower planets a single loop can start in one year and finish in the next, leaving a calendar year with nothing inside it.

Check 2010 and 2012 — the period you are looking for will be in one of them.

Computed from the actual motion

The nearest Venus retrogrades either side of 2011

Previous

2010 Ended 18 November 2010 after 42 days, moving back 15.58° through the zodiac.

Next

2012 Begins 15 May 2012 and runs 43 days.

Gap across 2011

1.5 years between the two — long enough for a whole calendar year to fall inside it with nothing to report.

Both dates are computed from the planet’s apparent motion, not taken from a table. A retrograde begins the moment its daily movement against the stars turns negative, and that moment is findable to the hour.