From Gerald Kelleher@21:1/5 to All on Sun Oct 15 09:11:53 2023
"To set down in books the apparent paths of the planets and the record of their motions is especially the task of the practical and mechanical part of astronomy; to discover their true and genuine path is . . .the task of contemplative astronomy; while
to say by what circle and lines correct images of those true motions may be depicted on paper is the concern of the inferior tribunal of geometers" Kepler
Kepler was describing a time when the heliostatic system still used the Ptolemaic framework where the Sun moved directly through the background stars while the planets wandered or what he called apparent paths.
The objective approach that Copernicus introduced was the apparent paths of the planets are a result of the Earth's orbital motion, at least the slower-moving planets as observers on a rotating Earth looked in the opposite direction to the Sun or close
enough outside its glare (daylight) to see the planets.
I have no problem with experimental theorists who imagine themselves to be professional astronomers as opposed to amateur observers, however, the genuine amateur is a lover of astronomy which involves observations, interpretations and conclusions based
on visual narratives and not mathematical models.