Mars, Saturn & Spica within 8º field

Event Date: August 4th
Time: 9:00 PM


Brief
 
   Mars continues to appear closer to Saturn with each passing day, and has been speeding up in prograde motion as we continue to pull away from it in orbit.  Saturn has started to move a little further east itself, yet much more slowly than Mars.  Near both of them is Spica.  With tonight's configuration, Mars is close to becoming the apex of an isosceles triangle with the other two. 
   The first image shows all three zoomed out labeled, while the second is a binocular field of 8º.  As Mars squeezes a little closer to forming a near equilateral triangle, shortly after Saturn and Spica's peek of encounter (2 days from now), I will show the trio again in a smaller field.

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

Detailed

   Now within binocular view with Saturn, a little over 6º apart, Mars is slightly closer with Spica, while Saturn and Spica are slightly under 4.5º apart.  This is almost as close as these two will be for the next 28 years; Saturn will need to come all the way around the sky again for its next revolution and meet the star then.  Until that time, Saturn will pass by many other 1st and second magnitude stars, with varying numbers for separation.  When in prograde and retrograde, as we have reviewed earlier in the year, a planet can pass a star at one separation, and then be either closer or further the next time it passes it.  This is a result of being in a different part of our own orbit, being tilted from other planets slightly, and seeing it from different perspectives.  We notice this with Saturn's ring tilt.