Mars and Jupiter to get closest in this spectacular astronomical event of decade

Mars and Jupiter are warming up in the night sky for their closest encounter of the decade on Wednesday (Aug 14).

While the planets would be more than 350 million miles away from each other in their orbits, from our perspective, they would seem extremely close with just a small gap between them.

As per an AP report, the red planet and the biggest planet will be at their minimum distance, about one-third of a degree or one-third of the moon's width.

They will appear in most of the Americas, Europe, and Africa during the daylight hours. However, they will not be visible any different even during the dark sky the previous day or some hours earlier, according to Jon Giorgini of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

The planets will be best visible before dawn in the eastern sky, along the constellation Taurus. This kind of astronomical event, planetary conjunction, only happens once in three years or so.

“Such events are mostly items of curiosity and beauty for those watching the sky, wondering what the two bright objects so close together might be,” said Giorgini in an email to AP. “The science is in the ability to accurately predict the events years in advance.”

The two celestial bodies haven't crossed orbits this close since 2018. This event won't occur again until 2033 when they will be even nearer.

According to Giorgini, the closest Mars and Jupiter had been in the last 1,000 years was in 1761, when they were visible to the naked eye as one bright star. In the future, they will be almost as close in the year 2348.

This exciting linking of Mars and Jupiter will occur during the same time as the Perseid meteor shower. This is one of the brightest showers in the year and will be visible to the naked eye.

(With inputs from agencies)