Soon Mars and Jupiter will create a "double planet": it cannot be seen for 2 more years (photo)
Technology has appeared its Telegram channel. Subscribe not to miss the latest and most intrusive news from the world of science! 2 hours before dawn, on Wednesday, August 14, it will be possible to see a spectacle that last happened 2 years ago, namely on May 29, 2022. Next time, Mars and Jupiter's connection can be observed on November 15, 2026. Although both planets will seem visually close to each other, they will be even closer to December 1, 2033.
But back to the current connection of the planets. According to NASA scientists, on Wednesday morning, Mars and Jupiter will create a tight pair that will separate the distance less than the width of the full moon. Although the two planets will be located close, they are in fact distant from each other by about 560 million km. That is, it is just an optical illusion that Mars and Jupiter are close.
However, it is a stunning spectacle that can be seen by turning to the east in the dawn hours and looking for the constellation of Taurus. Mars will be slightly higher and left at Jupiter at this time. According to scientists, Jupiter, who is a gas giant, will be about 16 times brighter than the rocky planet Mars. At least binoculars are required to see the planets' connection. Given that Jupiter is much larger than Mars, the gas giant will look about 6 times larger than the red planet.
Scientists say that the connection of these worlds in the sky is always an exciting sight. Over the past 24 years, Mars and Jupiter have been in connection 11 times. As for Mars, now because of the features of the planet's orbit, it is approaching us. If in early August, the land and Mars were divided 239. 3 million km, then at the end of the month the Red Planet will be nearly 16 million km closer.
Over the next few days, Mars will visually move away from Jupiter, but on August 27, a fascinating trio consisting of a moon, Mars and Jupiter can be observed in the dawn sky. As focus has already wrote, on Tuesday, August 13, there is still an opportunity to see the most spectacular meteor flow this year - Perseids. Although the peak of his activity has already passed.