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The phenomenon, which will not repeat itself until February 4, 2038, occurs when the planet Mars approaches the Pleiades star cluster when it is separated by 2.6 degrees, which is the most common conjunction. close to the two celestial bodies in 30 years.
Ashraf Tadros, the former head of the Department of Astronomy at the Institute for Astronomical and Geophysical Research, explains behind the unique phenomenon, saying: “This conjunction can be seen with the naked eye of the inhabitants of the northern hemisphere, when the night enters around 7 p.m. until sunset of these two celestial bodies at 11:30 p.m.
Tadros added to “Sky News Arabia” that this scene can be seen from March 2-6, but the real conjunction will take place on March 3, as Mars will be as close to the Pleiades as possible, or let’s say the angle between their is as little as 2.6 degrees.
The professor of astronomy explains that the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters are an open star cluster located in the constellation Taurus, and it is one of the brightest and most famous constellations in the sky that we can see with the naked eye.
And he continues: This crowd is made up of young stars whose color tends to be blue, indicating youth and young age, and there are seven stars in this crowd which are the brightest and they are the reason for the name, pointing out that this crowd is about 444 light years from Earth and is between 100 and 150 million years old.
Scientific origin
Ashraf Tadros analyzes the phenomenon of conjugation, describing it as two celestial bodies approaching outwardly looking at them from the Earth, that is to say when the angular distance between them is as little as possible, as for the truth, it is is a linear distance between them, estimated to be hundreds of light years or thousands of millions of kilometers.
And he adds: “When the angular conjunction we see the planet Mars and its pleiades behind it, as if they meet in the sky, and there are dozens of conjugations that occur in the year between the moon and the planets. , stars and star clusters etc., so that the apparent proximity of one of them to the other is called a conjunction.
Regarding the methods of observing the phenomenon, Tadros says that conjugations can be monitored and photographed using telescopes and special cameras to calculate certain parameters useful in certain astronomical studies, and both amateur astronomers and those interested in sky-watching like to follow such conjunctions. to see it with the naked eye or to monitor and photograph it with telescopes or magnifying glasses.
And the professor of astronomy concluded his interview with “Sky News Arabia”, explaining how to fix the dates of the associations; He says: Each pair of conjugations has a date for its occurrence, and a number for its repetition, and all of these dates are recorded in tables and have their astronomical calculations by the minute.
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