Saturn and Mars: same altitude

Event Date: May 22nd
Time: 10:26(.13) PM

Brief

   This week, Mars continues to dim to the magnitude of Saturn.  Both are about the same now at +0.4, with Mars "just a hair" brighter (for lack of a better phrase).  While this similarity goes on, we can also see them at the same altitude, a few minutes earlier each evening for the next several weeks.  Mars eventually catches up with Saturn this summer, as it revolves around the Sun about 20 times the frequency of Saturn.  They are of course two very different planets, as I have described over these last two months: Mars has a rust-covered surface and a very featured surface overall, and Saturn is a gas planet many times larger with rings made up of billions of icy particles of various sizes.
  

Detailed

  Look at the image with the altitude/azimuth grid included.  I picked a spot on the horizon that if a telescope is placed at that azimuth (208º) the slew measurement to each planet is almost exact. They are 45º 28' high, just slightly past the sky's halfway point between the horizon and zenith. 

click on image to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp.

This altitude will change slightly each day, as both planets move against the stars.  Saturn is still in retrograde while  Mars is picking up speed in prograde gradually, and soon to move from Leo to Virgo.  Early last month, I showed Mars' celestial path and how it was close to the Virgo border briefly before its first stationary marking.  This time, instead of turning around, it will move through Virgo a little faster each day, eventually going through the other zodiacal constellations at a faster rate until about the time of conjunction with the Sun.  As the year moves on, Mars eventually reaches the part of the sky where the Sun is in the late fall and early winter, seen much lower in the sky,  It will also be much dimmer than it is now, and especially when compared to its opposition in March.  As we move further from Mars in our smaller orbit, we eventually see it looking not much different than a +1 magnitude star, with alot of its color not visible to the eye.