Mars and Jupiter are currently within the field of view of binoculars, although you will need to be up early to see them at about 20° altitude at around 3am BST. Both planets are surrounded by the bright stars of the constellation Taurus the Bull, providing a striking backdrop before and during the approach.
Mars lies west of Jupiter, about 5° above orange-red Aldebaran (alpha Tauri), on the morning of August 7. Marking the right eye of the Bull, Aldebaran dominates the familiar bright “V”-shaped outline of the Hyades Open Cluster, even though it is not a member of the cluster. By chance, both Mars and Aldebaran shine at about magnitude +0.9 and are similarly colored. Jupiter dazzles at magnitude -2.2, totally dominating the morning scene.
Over the next week, Mars' faster eastward motion through Taurus will bring the Red Planet ever closer to Jupiter. The planetary pair will be within 1.3° of each other between the mornings of 12 and 17 August. Closest approach will occur on 15 August at 16:52 UT UK time, when Mars will be 18' northwest of Jupiter.
Close planetary conjunctions are not that common and are very exciting to see. Not long ago we witnessed the so-called “Christmas Star Conjunction” on December 21, 2020, when Jupiter and Saturn had not been this close in the night sky for almost 400 years. This type of event usually attracts media attention, like a bright comet or a colorful aurora. Therefore, it will be worth trying to observe and photograph the conjunction.
From UK shores, there are two opportunities to see Mars and Jupiter at their closest. On the mornings of 13/14 and 14/15 August, Mars will pass in front of Jupiter, when the Red Planet will appear to be 7 metres above and 7 metres to the left of Jupiter respectively – a distance well less than the diameter of a full Moon. This is the closest Mars and Jupiter have been since they were about 4 metres apart in the pre-dawn sky on 7 January 2018.
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