7:30 AM

2021 March 01 Monday

Books – Yusuf Affifi:

The skies of Egypt and the Arab world will witness the event of Mars near the Pleiades star cluster on Wednesday, March 3, early at night and at sunset after sunset, where they will be separated by 2.6 degrees, which is the closest combination since January 20, 1991, for nearly 30 years.

Engineer Majeed Abu Zahra, head of the Astronomical Society in Jeddah, said it was easier to see Mars with the naked eye than it had been in the past four months, but binoculars or imaging were needed to see them. The Pleiades Star Cluster near the Red Planet within cities.

Abu Zahra added on the official page of the association’s Facebook page that a red star is observed near Aldebaran in the Taurus constellation on the western horizon on Tuesday, and although there are relative similarities in color and brightness, they are easy to distinguish between. Aldebaran’s star, Mars, is very close to the Pleiades cluster below it.

One of the most important differences, he explained, is that in addition to the fact that Mars reflects sunlight when Aldebaran illuminates itself, Aldebaran and the Pleiades star cluster are “fixed” points of light in Taurus but only a temporary visitor to Mars. .

Abu Zahra continued: In early March 2021, Aldebaran’s star will be brighter to the naked eye than Mars, because Mars is diminishing day by day, i.e. fainter than Aldebaran by 7 degrees. Mars fades north of Aldebaran on March 20, 2021, and by April 24, 2021, it will emerge from Taurus and enter the twin constellations.

He pointed out that Mars is the fourth planet in terms of distance from the Sun, and that it takes about two Earth years to form a complete circle in front of the constellations in the zodiac, so Mars usually meets plaids every two years. As an exception, the next Mars merger with the Pleiades will occur next year (instead of next year) on August 20, 2022, because Wednesday’s merger will occur earlier this year, and there will be no reversal of Mars. Between 2021 and 2022, the merger of Mars and Pleiades, and after 2022, the reunion of Mars and Pleiades will occur every two years until March 14, 2036.

It is rare for Mars to have three combinations with plaids over a period of approximately 4.7 months, and for this to happen, Mars must collide at a critical time so that Mars can move closer to the plaid as it moves forward (it). In front of the stars in the eastern zodiac.), Then backwards (in front of the stars in the western zodiac), then moved backwards (east) again, this happened in 1991-1990, and it will happen again in 2038-2037.

Binoculars are ideal for observing the combination of Mars and the Pleiades cluster, so that Mars and the plaids appear at the same time.

Since Mars and the Pleiades cluster are capable of taking photos with smartphones and digital cameras, this pairing with a lens with a digital sensor camera system (APS-C) with a 200mm focal length will be attractive to astronomy. Photography would be great.

It should be noted that the merger of Mars and Pleiades will not be visible again this year until February 4, 2038.