Keep your eyes on the skies Wednesday morning as the Red Planet, Mars, quickly moves past the largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter.
The two planets will appear to have a very close meeting, known as a conjunction.
The close appearance will be due to a perspective illusion. Earth, Mars, and Jupiter will temporarily align, so Mars and Jupiter will seem to be in the same position from our viewpoint on Earth, according to Time and Date.
NASA says that during this event, Mars and Jupiter will appear to be positioned just a third of a degree apart, which is smaller than the width of the full Moon, despite the planets being more than 350 million miles apart.
In 1761, people witnessed Mars and Jupiter at their closest, with the planets appearing as a single bright object. This was the closest they had been in 1,000 years, as reported by Fox 4 KDFW and confirmed by Jon Giorgini of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. Looking to the future, Giorgini anticipates a similar close encounter in the year 2348.
As for now, the planets will be closer in the night sky on August 14 than they have been in a decade. This remarkable event will coincide with the ever-so-bright Perseid meteor shower, creating a spectacular celestial display. Be sure to witness this event, as the next occurrence will not happen again until 2033, per Fox 4.
Look for this celestial illusion in the hours just before sunrise in the east near the constellation Taurus, where Mars will be positioned just above and a little to the left of Jupiter, according to Space.com.
You won’t need any additional equipment to enjoy this event — just take a moment to look up!
