Mars and Mercury "together", yet low.

Event Date: February 8th

Time: 6:00 PM

Brief

   Here it is!  The closes encounter that we see of Mercury and Mars this year, as seen from our latitude of 122º W.  Both planets are far enough north of the Sun to see for about 30 minutes after our star sets.  Of course, we have to wait for it to get dark enough, which takes about 15 minutes after Sunset to see the pair easily with optical aid.  Some-odd minutes later, Mercury with its impressive -1.0 magnitude becomes visible to the eye, while Mars takes longer, at magnitude +1.2...about 6 times dimmer than Mercury on the logarithmic magnitude scale.  Their peak encounter happened about nine hours earlier, seen well in locations such as Europe and northwest Africa, at 16' apart.  The image shows them in a 1º field of view, magnifying them about 50x.

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

Detailed

   Once both planets are visible, with the clearest of sky conditions, they can be seen while getting deeper in atmospheric pollution.  For the last 10-15 minutes they are above the horizon, they are too difficult to see easily with the eye-- especially dimmer Mars.

  Notice also, that I labeled the 4.8 magnitude star Sigma Aquarii at 14.4' apart from Mars this evening, with the two also at their closest.  It is not often that a planet is at or very near its closest with another planet and an unaided-eye in less than a 24-hour period, yet Mars has succeeded doing that!

   The next time that Mars and Mercury are this close, or have their next peak-encounter, it will be about 3/4º apart, three months from now: May 8th, except as two morning planets instead.  At that time, both will be south of the Sun, with poor apparitions.  Therefore, it will be much harder to see them, and especially in comparison to now, with the two further north of the Sun.  Enjoy them now, while still visible to see.  As Mercury approaches greatest elongation and then goes retrograde, it will rapidly change in ecliptic latitude, pulling further from Mars and dimming rapidly.