2024, August 5-10:  Mars Approaches Jupiter

August 5-10, 2024:  Mars approaches Jupiter before their conjunction on August 14th.  Find them in the eastern sky before daybreak.

Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Regulus, 2015, October 15
Photo Caption – Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Regulus, 2015, October 15

by Jeffrey L. Hunt

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Mars Approaches Jupiter

Mars Approaches Jupiter
Chart Caption – 2024, August 8: Jupiter and Mars are in the eastern sky in front of Taurus, an hour before sunrise.

Bright Jupiter and Mars are in the eastern sky before sunrise. Jupiter, outshining all other stars in this morning’s sky, is less than halfway from the horizon to overhead in the east.  It plods slowly eastward in front of Taurus, about 7° to Aldebaran’s lower left, the Bull’s brightest star.

Mars is overtaking the Jovian Giant, leading up to their conjunction on August 14th.  The Red Planet, about the same color and brightness as Aldebaran, is less than 5° to Jupiter’s upper right and over 5° to Aldebaran’s upper left.

A Binocular View

Mars Approaches Jupiter
Chart Caption – 2024, August 5-10: Through a binocular, Mars overtakes Jupiter to Aldebaran’s upper left.

Jupiter, Mars, and Aldebaran tightly fit into the same binocular field.  Jupiter’s gap to the star widens, so that during the six days of this description, this planet and the star may not fit.

On August 5th, the Jupiter-Mars gap is 4.6°; August 6th, 4.1°; August 7th, 3.6°; August 8th, 3.1°; August 9th, 2.6°; and August 10th, 2.1°.

This planet race is visible without an optical assist, but the binocular helps track Mars overtaking the slower-moving Jupiter.  Photograph the scene each clear morning with a tripod-mounted camera and exposures from 5 seconds to one-third of a minute.

Watch Mars approach Jupiter every clear morning.

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