Martian Triangle this weekend

[Hum]

Mars is putting on a show in the night sky this weekend.

Mars itself will put on a special show in the sunset skies of Earth. Together with Saturn and Spica (a blue giant star in the constellation Virgo), the Red Planet will form a "Martian Triangle" visible from almost all parts of our planet.

Go outside after sunset on August 5 and look west where the setting sun has just disappeared. As soon as the sky fades to black, a triangle of first-magnitude lights will pop out of the twilight.

The vertices are Mars, Saturn and Spica. Together, they form an equilateral triangle about five degrees on each side.

This means you could hide the Martian Triangle behind your outstretched palm. It would also fit comfortably inside the bowl of the Big Dipper. The tightness of the triangle makes it extra eye-catching.

The three objects are very different. Mars is a small rocky planet relatively close to Earth, Saturn is a ringed gas giant halfway across the solar system, and Spica is a massive binary star on the other side of our galactic spiral arm.

Nevertheless, they shine with the same intensity as seen from Earth. On the scale of astronomical brightness, all three are ranked first magnitude.

This makes them easy to see with the unaided eye.

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[Shiranui]

More excited by the Curiosity landing.

[Reisen]

I shall look at this on Sunday night.