Residents of the UAE are in for a celestial treat between February 20 and February 24, as the bright planet Venus will be seen meeting Mars in a special planetary conjunction. This astronomical event will be visible at dawn over the eastern horizon, from after the dawn prayer until just before sunrise, weather permitting.
Ibrahim Al Jarwan, Chairman of the Emirates Astronomical Society and a member of the Arab Union for Space Sciences and Astronomy, highlighted that this conjunction is a unique event where Venus and Mars will appear to be close to each other in the sky, though they are not actually converging. This apparent proximity is an illusion caused by their positions relative to Earth, making it a spectacular sight from the vantage of a planetarium or the naked eye.
Planetary conjunctions are significant for both astronomers and sky gazers, occurring when two celestial bodies are less than 3 degrees apart in the sky. The phenomenon is particularly striking when involving bright planets like Venus or Jupiter.