Mars and Jupiter are set to be visible in the pre-dawn sky this weekend in an event known to astronomers as a conjunction, where the two planets appear close together. 

During this Memorial Day weekend, sky gazers can catch a glimpse of the two planets as they appear 20 degrees above the horizon in the eastern-southeastern sky against the constellation Pisces. 

The event is expected to occur approximately 45 minutes before local sunrise between May 27 and May 30. At their closest point, Mars and Jupiter should be separated by no more than 0.6 degrees. 

“Planetary conjunctions traditionally have been more the stuff of astrology than serious astronomy, but they never fail to impress during observations, particularly when the gas giants are involved,” said Mitzi Adams, an astronomer and researcher at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.

In Earth’s sky, conjunctions happen frequently because our sister planets travel around the sun in a fairly similar ecliptic plane, often appearing to meet in our night sky despite being millions of miles away from one another.

It may be necessary to use binoculars or a telescope to spot Mars clearly as it shines a magnitude of 0.7 and Jupiter shines -2.2. 

The next conjunction of Mars and Jupiter will not occur again until August 2024. 

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