The sky of the Arab world witnesses an astronomical phenomenon that will not repeat itself until 2032

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Today, Wednesday, the sky of the Arab world witnesses an astronomical phenomenon that will not be repeated until the year 2032, when it will witness the closer conjunction of two planets, Mercury and Mars.

The head of the Astronomical Society of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Majed Abu Zahira, declared: “The skies of Saudi Arabia and the Arab world will witness today, Wednesday August 18, 2021, the closest conjunction of two planets. , Mercury and Mars, on the dome of the sky at evening twilight, as they will be separated by less than 0.1 degrees on the horizon.The western region, which will allow the two planets to share the same telescope field of view , according to the Saudi newspaper, Sabq.

Abu Zahira explained, “First, the bright planet Venus will be observed shortly after sunset, then over time these two planets will appear under Venus, but they are close to the horizon, because Mercury will be to the right of the observer and then Mars. to that.”

He pointed out that “in general, this planetary conjunction will be easier to observe for the inhabitants of the southern hemisphere, compared to the northern latitudes, where Mercury and Mars will remain above the horizon for a longer period afterwards. sunset at southern latitudes, but on the contrary, they set after sunset.The sun is briefly at northern latitudes.

And he added: “As for the northern mid-latitudes, binoculars may be needed to see Mercury and Mars, Mercury is brighter because it shines eight times brighter than Mars, so seeing Mercury with the naked eye, binoculars are used to see Mars kissing Mercury in the same field of view. binoculars.

He concluded by saying, “The closest planetary conjunction occurs when two planets are less than 0.1 degree apart = 6 arc minutes = 360 arc seconds on the dome of the sky. Therefore, the conjunction of Mercury and Mars per day is considered to be the only closest conjunction between two planets for the year 2021. “

The last time the closest visible conjunction less than (0.1 °) between Mercury and Mars occurred on September 16, 2017, and it will repeat again on August 23, 2032.