Next Wednesday, the Arab world is witnessing an astronomical phenomenon that has not happened for 30 years

The Arab region is witnessing a unique astronomical phenomenon that has not happened for thirty years, namely the fall of the planet Mars near the Pleiades star cluster.

According to what has been confirmed by the Astronomical Society of Jeddah, through its account on the social networking site “Twitter”, this conjunction will take place on the evening of Wednesday March 3.

The company confirmed that 2.6 degrees is the separation distance between the planet Mars and the Pleiades cluster tonight, which is their closest conjunction since January 20, 1991, with an estimate of 30 years.

Majid Abu Zahra, president of the Jeddah Astronomical Society, said it will be easy to see Mars with the naked eye, despite its low light compared to the past four months, stressing the need to use telescopes or photography to see the Pleiades star cluster near the red planet from the cities.

Abu Zahra added, on the association’s official Facebook page, that Mars is currently observed on the western horizon in the constellation Taurus near the red star Aldebaran, and that it is easy to distinguish them despite the relative similarity of color and brightness. star of Aldebaran, while Mars will be below and much closer to the Pleiades cluster.

He explained that one of the most important differences is also that Aldebaran shines on its own while Mars reflects sunlight, in addition to the fact that Aldebaran and the Pleiades star cluster are points. of light “fixed” in the constellation Taurus, but Mars is only a temporary visitor.

Abu Zahra continued: In early March 2021, he will notice that Aldebaran’s star is brighter than Mars to the naked eye, as Mars is shrinking every day, which means it is weaker than Aldebaran by the time it will drop from 7 degrees. north of Aldebaran on March 20, 2021, and by April 24, 2021, that will be Mars is weaker as it emerges from the constellation Taurus and enters the constellation of twins.

He pointed out that Mars is the fourth planet in terms of distance from the sun and that it takes about two years of Earth years to make a full circle in front of the zodiac constellations, so Mars typically meets the Pleiades every two years, however. , exceptionally, the next conjunction of Mars with the Pleiades will take place next year (instead of the following year) on August 20, 2022, because the conjunction of Wednesday takes place at the beginning of this year, in addition to that there will be no demotion. movement of Mars between 2021 and 2022 and the conjunction of Mars and Pleiades, and after 2022, the conjunctions of Mars and Pleiades will take place every two years. Until March 14, 2036.

It happens in rare cases that Mars has three associations with the Pleiades over a period of approximately 4.7 months, and for this to happen, Mars must reach the encounter at a critical time, so that Mars can pass near the Pleiades. as it moves forward (east past the stars in the zodiac.), then backward (west past the stars in the zodiac), then back and moving again (east), and this happened in 1991-1990 and will be repeated again in 2038-2037.

Pairing will be available for astrophotography, as Mars and the Pleiades cluster are bright enough to be photographed with smartphones and digital cameras. With a 200mm focal length lens with an APS-C sensor digital camera, the imaging is good.

It should be noted that the conjunction of Mars and the Pleiades this year will not occur again at the same apparent distance as on February 4, 2038.