On August 14 we will witness a rather rare event: the conjunction of Mars and Jupiter. Two bright planets of different colors located so close in the sky is a real aesthetic pleasure!
In astronomy, a conjunction refers to the position of planets in the celestial sphere where they share either right ascension or ecliptic longitude. To observers on Earth, the planets appear to be very close to one another, even though Mars and Jupiter may actually be separated by over 350 million miles.
Mars completes one orbital revolution around the Sun every 687 days, while Jupiter’s revolution takes 4333 days. Therefore, Mars moves across the sky much faster than Jupiter, catching up with it approximately every 2 years and 3 months. But since the orbital planes of these planets are slightly tilted relative to each other, the planets almost never “merge”. Looking far into the past, astronomers calculated that in 1761 Mars and Jupiter came so close that to the naked eye they looked like a single celestial object. And the next almost as close conjunction will take place in 2348.
On August 14 at 14:56 UTC, Jupiter and Mars will be at their closest approach since 2018, with the minimum angular separation of 18′, which is less than the width of a full moon. Therefore, try to catch the planets on August 14 in the eastern predawn sky. Although, the planets will remain close to each other during the next couple of days. Located between the horns of Taurus the Bull, Jupiter and Mars will shine like diamonds, organically supplying this rich constellation. Golden Jupiter with a magnitude of -2.2m will dominate the sky as the brightest object. And the reddish Mars (0.8m) will somewhat resemble Aldebaran – the Eye of Taurus, located in the Hyades open cluster. In addition to the significant difference in brightness and color, the planets greatly differ in their apparent sizes, which can be seen through a telescope: the giant Jupiter is 36″, while Mars is only 6″.
Mars and Jupiter in Taurus on August 14.
The next time we will be able to observe such a close conjunction of Jupiter and Mars is on December 1, 2033, when the planets will come even closer to each other, and the apparent distance between them will be only 11′ (about a third of the full moon). So don’t miss this rare opportunity!
As you look out for Mars and Jupiter, note also two bright open clusters in the constellation Taurus: the Hyades and the Pleiades, a more compact cluster that resembles a small bucket.
