When to Look at the Higher Conjunction of the Moon and Mars This Month
If your job involves staring at the screen all day, heaven gives you reason enough to enjoy a much-needed respite from your drudgery this month. On Thursday, an annular eclipse in parts of the far northern hemisphere will trigger a Ring of Fire as the moon crosses the sun’s façade, and almost immediately thereafter, on Sunday, June 13, the Moon and Mars will hover. the sky is close to each other, visible with the naked eye or through binoculars.
Two celestial bodies will connect in what is called conjunction, which occurs when two objects reach “the same right ascension on the dome of our sky,” according to EarthSky. You can think of it as two celestial bodies keeping the same longitude for a moment, only to move away from each other again.
What is a union?
Conjunction, in the broadest sense of the word, occurs when two celestial objects are closer to each other than usual. They are sometimes visible to observers from the ground, and as EarthSky notes, “connected objects are likely to be visible next to each other for several days.”
However, there are two kinds of alliances – those that we can see and those that we cannot. Lower conjunctions occur when planets pass between the Sun and Earth, rendering them invisible due to sunlight. Excellent connections – like next week’s – involve the opposite: objects orbiting the Sun, making it sometimes visible to people below.
EarthSky illustrates this phenomenon in more specific terms, particularly when applied to the two planets, Venus and Mercury, by writing:
It’s pretty funny to imagine them in an endless loop of passing in front of the sun, as viewed from Earth, then behind it and back, like watching squirrels running around a tree.
Other planets such as “Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune … can never be in inferior conjunction” because they do not pass in front of the Sun. Fortunately, for anyone interested in a relatively easy view of the Moon aligned with the Red Planet next week, a better way to connect will make both objects glow and therefore visible in the night sky.
How to see the conjunction of Mars and the Moon
Of course, it all depends on where you are, and residents of the western United States will have a better chance of catching a match than residents of the East Coast. Once the Moon and Mars are synchronized, the Moon will be quite close to the Red Planet.
Generally speaking, if you look at the western sky at dusk, your best bet is to catch these two bodies. The moon is not quite emitting dramatic light at this time, and is expected to be as bright as 12 percent of its peak on the night of June 13. However, in an environment free from sufficient light pollution, space can be seen in the field of view. …
Luckily, you can paste your coordinates into the In The Sky tool to determine exactly when objects will become visible and when they will eventually sink below the horizon. This is not the kind of event that requires a fancy telescope ( although a few handy applications won’t hurt ), as the proximity of two objects makes it difficult to get a hyper-close view. In fact, it’s best to opt for binoculars or two of your own eyes.