Cosmic Weekend: How to see two phenomena of planetary alignment

The Astronomy lovers and lovers celebrate. On this long weekend, with the naked eye and even better with telescopes or binoculars, you will be able to see double planetary conjunction, Which also includes the moon.

What is the conjunction between the Moon, Mars and Venus?

The conjunction between the two planets and the Earth satellite can be observed on the morning of Saturday, February 26, The intense brightness of Venus will be seen over the Red Planet shortly before sunrise, while the Moon will be positioned to the right of the two planets. An hour before sunrise The waning moon will line up with Mars and Venus. In addition, a series of stars can be observed, and the asteroid Vesta, with a radius of 262.7 km, which is very close, located between these two planets, can also be observed using telescopes.

The phenomenon will end on Sunday, February 27, when the waning moon’s illumination reaches 14 percent and is located about 3.5 degrees below the surface of Mars. Before sunrise, while the Red Planet will be 4 degrees below Venus, to complete the coupling of the three largest celestial bodies between those near Earth. The exact time of the coupling is 09:00 GMT. At that moment, the apparent distance between our natural satellite and the red planet will be only 3° 31′. Although Mars is much darker than Venus, it remains within the visible range of the naked eye, shining at a power of 1.3.

What is the conjunction between the Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus and Saturn?

TheOn February 28, the moon will be set along with Mercury, Saturn, Venus and Mars. This means that it will be possible to see not only two, but Four planets on the horizon during the morning.

The specialized website Earth Sky explains it This phenomenon is due to the fact that “the ecliptic, or the path of the Sun, Moon and planets, makes a steep (favorable) angle with the horizon before sunrise in the fall (which is roughly the case for the southern part of the Earth). “

And it’s not the only event that 2022 brings. Between days Another pairing is expected on April 4 and 5. Before sunrise, Mars and Saturn can be seen merging as a single point of light brighter than usual. While between April 30 and May 1 it will include another phenomenon Jupiter and Venus.

On May 15 and November 8 there will be a total lunar eclipse. In the first case, the moon’s western edge will enter the dark shadow around 00:28 PM (local time), then slowly slip into the shadow, sinking completely an hour later. The total eclipse continues until 14:54. In the November event, the eclipse will begin at 05:02, the maximum eclipse will occur at 07:59 and the event will end at 10:56.

What is conjugation?

You will see the planets very close to each other, at much shorter distances than usual, this is called conjunction, It is the result of the apparent proximity of many planets in a region of the sky and They can be observed without the help of any kind of visual aid, On some occasions, even from cities where there is light pollution, it can be observed. The planets will align for a few moments, and little by little you will lose the alignment.

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