Overview
- The alignment culminates at 18:48 Moscow time on January 21 and remains in a similar configuration for roughly a day.
- Scientists at IKI RAS report Mercury lies about 2° from the Sun, with Venus and Mars about 3° away on a near-horizontal axis.
- The appearance forms a cross or diamond, with Venus positioned to the left of the Sun and Mars to the right in solar longitude.
- Researchers say the planets have been converging for months, marking the first comparably tight gathering near the Sun since autumn 2019.
- A similar trio is expected in 2038 at a wider separation of around 10°, and an astrophysicist notes that visibility now is extremely difficult and the Bethlehem Star hypothesis lacks scientific support.