The moon will make a detailed approach to Mars on Friday, Aug. 18, remaining together throughout the day and after sunset. The 2 celestial bodies will bask in the sunshine from the setting sun as in addition they dip below the horizon together.
From Latest York City, the pairing might be visible shortly after it rises over the horizon at around 8:35 a.m. EDT (1235 GMT) on Friday morning, in line with Within the Sky. The close approach of the moon and Mars will remain visible until shortly before the pair sinks below the horizon around 9:01 p.m. EDT (0101 GMT).
If you would like to catch a glimpse of the arrangement, look to the west because the sun sets and find the moon. You will have an unobstructed view of the horizon, because the two might be somewhat low by sunset. Mars might be slightly below and to the left of the moon. As an added challenge, see in the event you can spot distant Mercury which might be much fainter and smaller than Mars. The solar system’s innermost planet might be roughly 6 degrees below the moon (about half the width of your palm at arm’s length).
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The three-day-old moon, which might be in its waxing crescent phase, the stage within the lunar cycle at which period light steadily creeps back across the lunar face, will only be around 1 degree from Mars (lower than the width of a finger at arm’s length).
Throughout the close approach and the conjunction, each the moon and Mars might be within the constellation of Pisces. The moon can have a magnitude of -9.5, (the minus sign indicates a vivid object over Earth), while the Red Planet might be much fainter with a magnitude of 1.8. Mercury, in the event you can spot it, might be barely brighter than Mars at a magnitude of 0.6.
The pairing might be separated from the setting sun, which is within the constellation of Leo, by 29 degrees.
Despite this being a detailed approach between the 2 solar system objects, the moon and Mars will still be too widely separated within the sky to be spotted together in the sector of view of a telescope. They ought to be visible together in the broader field of view of binoculars, nonetheless.
At around the identical time because the close approach, the 2 solar system bodies might be in an arrangement astronomers call a conjunction. This implies they are going to share the identical right ascension within the sky, the celestial equivalent of longitude.
The closeness of Mars and the moon on Friday is an artifact of our view of the solar system from Earth. While the common distance between our planet and the moon is 238,855 miles (384,400 kilometers), the gap between the Earth-moon system and the Red Planet, which is the fourth planet from the sun, is around 140 million miles (225 million kilometers) on average. Currently, Mars is around 226 million miles (365 million kilometers) away, in line with The Sky Live.
Mars will reach its most distant point from our planet in mid-Oct. 2023 when it would be around 240 million miles (381 million kilometers) away. Following this, the Red Planet will make an actual close approach to Earth and the moon in mid-January 2025, when the third and fourth planets from the sun might be separated by about 60 million miles (96 million kilometers).
When you are hoping to catch a have a look at the moon and Mars together, our guide to the most effective binoculars are an amazing place to begin. Or, if you would like to take a better have a look at either one, our guide to the best telescopes can assist you find the optical gear you wish.
When you’re trying to snap photos of those celestial objects or the night sky basically, take a look at our guide on the way to photograph the moon, in addition to our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography.