Imposed images of Hubble on Jupiter and Mars. Credit: Jupiter: NASA, ESA, A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center) and M. H. Wong (University of California, Berkeley), Mars: NASA / ESA, J. Bell (Cornell Y.) and M. Wolf (SSI)
Most star lovers will have a great opportunity to observe the planets Jupiter and Mars, which are approaching incredibly close to the morning sky on the nights of May 27-30.
Approximately 45 minutes before the local sunrise, the two planets will appear about 20 degrees above the horizon in the east-southeast sky against the constellation Pisces. This Mars-Jupiter connection will be visible, except for local weather problems, in the hours before dawn every morning from May 27 to May 30. The peak of the match will be at 3:57 a.m. CDT on May 29.
“Planetary connections are traditionally more than astrology than serious astronomy, but they never fail to impress during observations, especially when the gas giants are involved,” said Mickey Adams, an astronomer and researcher at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. Alabama.
During such a coincidence, two planets appear close to each other in the night sky of the Earth. In the case of the Earth’s solar system, coincidences often occur because our sister planets travel around the Sun in a very similar plane to the ecliptic, often appearing to be found in our night sky, even though they are millions of miles apart.
A celestial diagram showing how Jupiter and Mars will appear in the sky before sunrise on May 28-30. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
At their nearest point, Mars and Jupiter will be separated by no more than 0.6 degrees. Astronomers routinely use degrees to measure the angular distance between objects in the night sky. For Earth observers, the distance between the two planets will be no more than the width of a raised finger, with Mars appearing right in the lower right corner of the massive gas giant.
It may be necessary to use binoculars or a telescope to see Mars clearly, said Alphonse Sterling, a NASA astronomer working with Adams in Marshall. But he noted that observers should have no problem identifying Jupiter, even with the naked eye.
“We expect Jupiter to shine with a magnitude of -2.2,” Stirling said. “Mars, by comparison, will have a magnitude of only 0.7.”
The brightness of celestial bodies is measured by their magnitude, a number that decreases with increasing brightness. A negative value indicates that the planet or moon is easy to see in the night sky, even in ambient light from our surroundings.
Mars and Jupiter are millions of miles away, of course – more than 136 million miles will separate Earth and Mars at the time of reunion, with Jupiter nearly four times farther away. However, Jupiter will be far brighter than the two. With a planetary diameter of about 4,200 miles, Mars is a dwarf of the massive giant Jupiter, which has a diameter of about 89,000 miles. Because it is much smaller, Mars reflects much less sunlight.
Mars also orbits the Sun faster, spinning east in our night sky fast enough to leave behind its clumsy gas giant. Mars will catch up with Jupiter again and cross it during another conjunction in August 2024.
Adams and Stirling look forward to seeing the planetary connection.
“It’s exciting to look up and realize that these two worlds represent the breadth of NASA’s planned and potential goals for science and research,” Adams said. “As NASA prepares to send the first human explorers to Mars, the possibilities can be virtually limitless for revolutionary scientific discoveries among Jupiter’s enchanting moons.
“This connection brings together two extremely different worlds, both of which have an incredible promise to help us better understand our solar system, humanity’s place in space, and where we can go as a species,” Sterling added.
“Go out before sunrise on May 29 and see them for yourself – and imagine everything we have yet to learn from them,” he added.
Enjoy this heavenly event while watching the sky!
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