Venus-Mars Conjunction Happening Soon: Here's How To Catch the Two Planets Side by Side

Venus and Mars will appear like a cosmic colon, as they will be visible beside each other in a planetary conjunction on February 22.

Planetary Conjunctions Explained

In an astronomical sense, a conjunction takes place when two cosmic objects appear to meet from the viewpoint from the Earth. That said, planetary conjunctions take place when at least two planets appear close to each other from the perspective of Earth.

These events happen due to how planets within the Solar System rotate the Sun around the same plane. As they orbit at varying speeds in their own paths, they may be far from each other at some times, and they may orbit the same solar side at other times. When two planets are in the same area of their orbital path and this aligns with Earth's view, a planetary conjunction may result.

However, while planets may appear close to each other, this is just an optical illusion. In space, planets are never close to each other, as their orbits are separated by hundreds of millions of kilometers in distance. Hence, despite looking like they are near each other, they are extremely far from one another.

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Venus-Mars Conjunction

On February 22, both Venus and Mars will appear beside each other in the predawn sky. This seemingly close encounter, known as a planetary conjunction, will make both planets come within roughly half a degree of one another.

Being one of the brightest objects that can be found in the Earth's sky, Venus will outshine Mars easily. The bright object will have a magnitude of -3.9 as it shines, while Mars will reach a magnitude of 1.3. On this scale, the brightest sky objects have the lowest figures. In fact, the Sun has a radiant magnitude of -27.

While the planets will look like they are close to each other, they only have such an apparent distance from Earth's view. In fact, Venus will be around 219 million kilometers away from Earth, while Mars will be 335 million kilometers away. This means that, despite appearing close to each other, the planetary duo will actually have a distance of over 100 million miles.

How To See the Duo

For those who wake up early, this planetary dance may be visible with a pair of binoculars or even with the naked eye. However, as Mars will be harder to see during dawn, it is still recommended to use a pair of good binoculars to catch the cosmic sight.

Watchers from the Northern Hemisphere may catch a glimpse of the cosmic duo shining together in the east-southeast around one hour before the sun rises. By then, Mars will be below Venus, having a distance equivalent to that of a Full Moon. This will give a cosmic colon appearance over the sky.