In the early morning of the 29th, Mars will "meet" Jupiter

In the early morning of the 29th, Mars will "meet" Jupiter.

In the early morning of the 29th, Mars will "meet" Jupiter. Mars and Jupiter will conjunct at 8:3 on the 29th. At this time, the angular distance between the two is the closest, only 40 arc minutes, which is only a little larger than the apparent diameter of the full moon. In the early morning of the 29th, Mars will "meet" Jupiter. In the early morning of May 29, Mars will "meet" Jupiter 1

In the morning of May 29, the king of planets and Mars will meet. During this conjunction of Mars and Jupiter, they are separated from each other by approximately 0.5°, which is the length of the full moon. Regardless, since Jupiter and Mars are never close to each other anywhere in space, no conflict would occur. Their exact separation length is 350 million miles (560 million kilometers), which is four times the distance between the sun and the earth.

On the morning of May 29, the King of Planets met the red planet. During this conjunction, Mars and Jupiter will be separated by approximately 1/2 degree of declination, or the width of the full Moon. However, since Jupiter and Mars are so far apart in space, a collision will not occur. Their distance is about 350 million miles (560 million kilometers), or four times the distance between the Earth and the Sun.

If you are a morning person, you may have noticed red Mars slowly approaching bright Jupiter in the sky before dawn. The two planets are so close together in the solar system, even though they are separated by 350 million miles (560 million kilometers) and an asteroid belt. On the 29th, when we looked from the sky, they were about as wide as the full moon. On May 24 and 25, the waning Last Quarter Moon will pass below the pair of planets.

In the Northern Hemisphere, Mars faces Jupiter when it is close to Jupiter at conjunction. On the morning of the 29th, Mars was closest to the largest planet in the solar system. After May 30, Mars slides farther and farther to the left of Jupiter. As you observe this conjunction, don't miss Saturn above the duo and bright Venus below the horizon. In June, Mercury will join these planets.

For those observing from the Southern Hemisphere, the ecliptic, or the path of the planets, drops sharply from the horizon. This more vertical alignment means Mars will approach Jupiter from almost directly above it. Around May 29, Mars will move exactly to the right of Jupiter. On May 30, Mars will align with Jupiter. After this date, Mars will continue to plummet toward the horizon.

Viewed from the Southern Hemisphere. On the morning of May 30, bright Jupiter is just to the left of red Mars. Use binoculars to see through the bright light of any planet. Venus shines below them and Saturn above them.

You can watch Mars and Jupiter converge before the morning of May 29. The two planets appear to be separated by the width of a full moon, even though in reality they are millions of miles apart. In the early morning of the 29th, Mars will "meet" Jupiter 2

Two more planets are about to stage a "star attraction"! According to astronomical science experts, on May 29, Mars will conjunct Jupiter. At their closest approach, the angular distance between the two planets is only a little larger than the apparent diameter of the full moon. By then, as long as the weather is fine, interested members of the public across my country will be able to see the double stars "in the same frame" in the eastern sky before dawn with the naked eye.

Whenever two planets are "close" to each other, it means there is a chance to see them at the same time with the naked eye or a telescope. Of course, if several brighter planets appear in the sky at the same time, they will be very small. Within the scope, it is also a very interesting phenomenon.

This is the four stars of wood, gold, fire and earth taken by Chongqing astronomy enthusiast Dai Jianfeng in Nianhu Lake, Huize County, Qujing City, Yunnan Province on the morning of April 24, 2022 With the moon. (Photo provided by reporter)

In recent times, the five planets Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Neptune, and Saturn have appeared relatively rarely in a "gathering" in the eastern sky before dawn, and they have been constantly changing their positions with each other. , a fast-moving planet sometimes passes near another planet, performing a "conjunction" phenomenon.

Yang Jing, a member of the Chinese Astronomical Society and director of the Tianjin Astronomical Society, introduced that in the early morning of May 25, after Mars, Jupiter and a waning moon staged a "double star accompanying the moon", the moon soon left them. However, Mars and Jupiter continued to "get closer" to each other until they met at 8:3 on the 29th. At this time, the angular distance between the two reached the closest, only 40 arc minutes, which was only a little larger than the apparent diameter of the full moon, but the sky was already bright at this time. , we cannot see this scene when Mars and Jupiter are closest.

Cartoon production: Hu Yanzhu

"The early morning of the 29th is the most suitable for observation. The angular distance between the double stars is about 41 arc minutes, which is similar to the angular distance at the closest point. "Yang Jing said that three hours before sunrise, Jupiter "joins hands" with Mars in the low sky in the east, so there is plenty of time for observation. Jupiter's brightness is -2.2, which is very bright. Mars is slightly dimmer, with a brightness of 0.7, and is located at the lower right of Jupiter. “In the early morning of the next day, Mars will run below Jupiter, and its angular distance from Jupiter will still be very close.

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This is Jupiter and Europa taken by the Hubble Telescope. (Picture source: NASA official website)

Normally, Jupiter is the third brightest natural celestial body at night after the moon and Venus. It was called the "year star" in ancient China. It is the largest planet in the solar system and the planet with the fastest rotation speed; Mars is outside the orbit of the earth. The first planet is red in color and was called "Yinghuo" in ancient China. It is currently the planet that has been explored most frequently by humans.

This is the National Space Administration's 2021 March. The high-definition image of Mars taken by "Tianwen-1" released on March 4th (photo provided by China National Space Administration)

"It is rare for two planets to be so 'close'. If the observation time is right and the weather is clear, interested members of the public from all over my country can see them with the naked eye. If conditions permit, if you use a small astronomical telescope to observe, you can not only see Mars and Jupiter in the same frame in a small field of view, but you can even observe the phase of Mars, the colorful cloud belts of Jupiter and its three stars at the same time. Galilean satellites. "Yang Jing said. In the early morning of May 29th, Mars will "conjunct" with Jupiter 3

According to astronomers' speculation, in the morning of May 29th, Mars will "conjunct" with Jupiter. To put it simply, It is said that they will meet. After rigorous speculation, the two will be separated from each other by about 0.5°. The encounter between Mars and Jupiter is not a collision between the two. In fact, there is no possibility of any form of contact between Mars and Jupiter.

This time their separation length is about 560 million kilometers, which translates to four times the distance between the sun and the earth. So this encounter between Mars and Jupiter is actually an encounter from a perspective. It seems that Mars will be slower. Slowly approaching Jupiter, the distance is actually quite different.

Mars is not very close to the sun. It is the fourth-farthest celestial body from the sun and the second-smallest planet in the solar system, slightly smaller than Mercury. Bigger. In Western mythology, Mars represents the aura of the Roman god of war.

Compared to other planets, humans know more about Mars. It has launched probes and landed on the surface of Mars. China has also launched probes and has a certain understanding and research on the landforms of Mars. The elemental composition of the Martian crust is similar to that of the Earth, and the core is mainly composed of iron and nickel. . Unlike the Earth, which has only one satellite, Mars has two satellites, named Mars Satellite 1 and Mars Satellite 2.

Some scientists speculate that Mars once had civilization. Although no relevant evidence has been found so far, scientists have not denied this inference because the environment of Mars is very similar to that of the Earth.

Whether it is the United States or China that is exploring Mars. Later, it was discovered that the Martian environment in ancient times was very different from the current Martian environment. The original Mars had a large amount of water. Where there is water, something may exist. Whether it can truly breed life requires further research by scientists. .

By observing the starry sky around dawn, it is possible to observe that Mars is slowly approaching Jupiter. The two planets are separated by 560 million kilometers, and there is a gap between them. There is also an asteroid belt, but looking into space from the Earth, it seems that the distance between Mars and Jupiter is only about one full moon. From May 24th to 25th, the moon will pass under Mars and Jupiter. Passed.

If you are in the northern hemisphere, you are lucky. Mars and Jupiter will have a rare encounter this weekend, and the northern hemisphere is the place where Mars is closest to Jupiter. The best viewing position. On the morning of the 29th, Mars will be closest to Jupiter until the 30th, and then it will slowly move away from Jupiter.

If conditions permit, observe. When Mars and Jupiter are conjunct, you will find Saturn just above the two planets, and Venus below the horizon will also participate. Until June, Mercury will also join this feast.

So what can you see from the Southern Hemisphere? On the morning of May 30, Jupiter is just to the left of Mars when viewed from the southern hemisphere. The previously mentioned Venus is just below these two celestial bodies, so Saturn is above these two celestial bodies.

If you want to watch the conjunction of Mars and Jupiter, you need to wait before the morning of May 29. The two planets appear to be only one full moon apart, but in fact they are different. It’s a million miles away, but it’s truly a feast for the visual senses.