Mars and Saturn "brothers and sisters"? On April 5, there will be a rare astronomical spectacle of Mars meeting Saturn, one of the eight planets of the solar system. No one on Earth, in the 21st century, has witnessed Saturn and Mars meeting at such a close visual distance. The two planets "passed by" each other for a short distance, the highest in 44 years. If the sky is clear, it can be seen not only all over China, but also almost everywhere in the world (except the Arctic). If the public is interested, they can watch it for three consecutive days (April 4-6)
Saturn Mars recently dynamics
Recently, Mars and Saturn are both located in capricorn, and Mars is chasing Saturn from west to east. On April 4, Mars was in the southwest of Saturn, and the distance between the two was 0.9°; at 6 o'clock on April 5, Mars finally caught up with Saturn, both on the same meridian, and the two were 0.3° apart. This is not the shortest distance, and according to theoretical calculations, it will be a few more hours before Mars and Saturn are closest to each other. The apparent diameter of a round full moon is about 0.5 degrees°, and if the full moon passes in front of Mars and Saturn, it can cover them both. On April 6, Mars was southeast of Saturn, 0.6° apart.
The picture was drawn by Li Desheng
How to distinguish Saturn and Mars
Saturn and Mars are so close, how to distinguish between them? Astronomy enthusiasts told reporters that they can be distinguished from three aspects. First, from the perspective of apparent brightness, Saturn is slightly brighter than Mars, and the apparent magnitude of the two, Saturn 0.9, Mars 1.0, the apparent brightness is similar to Scorpio's Heart Ii (0.96 apparent magnitude). The smaller the number, the brighter it gets. Second, from the orientation point of view, Mars is on the south side of Saturn; third, from the color point of view, Mars is orange-red, saturn is yellow-white.
"Brothers are good" for visual phenomena that are actually far apart
Just because Mars and Saturn are so close doesn't mean they're actually close. This is a visual phenomenon due to the fact that Earth, Mars, and Saturn are arranged in an approximately straight line during their movements. In fact, Mars is about 1.2 billion kilometers apart from Saturn, which equates to about 8 Earth's distance from the Sun.
How often does Saturn meet Mars?
According to reports, the last time Mars and Saturn were closer, it happened on June 5, 1978, and the distance between the two was only 0.1°, and the "half of the bright moon" could cover them both. 44 years ago, there probably not have been too many people around the world who witnessed this strange sight. How often does Saturn meet Mars? It is estimated that it occurs about once every two years, the last time occurred on March 31, 2020, and the next time will occur on April 11, 2024.
When is the best view?
Mars Saturn meets up close, when is the best time to see? According to astronomy enthusiasts, the best viewing time in various places is 70 minutes before sunrise, and the observation direction is low in the south-east. At that time, Venus is the day star, very bright, with an apparent brightness of minus 4.4. On the southwest side of Venus (top right), Saturn and Mars can be found. On April 5, the sunrise time in Guangzhou was 6:16, that is, Guangzhou was the best at observing around 5:06. If you look at it with the help of binoculars, the effect is even better.
Text/Guangzhou Daily, Xinhua city reporter: Ye Cass correspondent Li Jianji
Photo: Li Desheng
Guangzhou Daily New Flower City Editor: Li Fenghe