Earth Sky.org tells us that on – February 21, 2015 we
will have the ". . . closest conjunction of the planets Venus and Mars
since September 11, 2008." They won’t couple up this closely again until
October 5, 2017. As soon as darkness falls, look for these embracing worlds to
pop out beneath the waxing
crescent moon in your western sky. If you have binoculars, aim them at
dazzling Venus to see nearby Mars with Venus in a single binocular field of
view!
Here is what they tell us:
Although Venus and Mars are about the moon’s diameter
(1/2 degree) apart on the
sky’s dome, these worlds are not particularly close
together in space. These two solar
system worlds simply align along the same line
of sight, as seen from Earth.
beyond Mars at 2.20 AU away.
Though I am no scientist, I love these types of happenings. If the weather is good enough and I find out I can see this, I want to go and see the skyward event!
