Overview
- The Laboratory of Solar Astronomy at IKI RAS reports the first such near-Sun grouping of the three planets since 2019.
- Venus moved to within 10 degrees of the Sun two days ago and is already visible in coronagraph imagery, while Mars reached a similar distance on December 4 and is expected to enter LASCO’s field within days.
- Forecasts indicate further tightening to roughly 5–6 degrees by December 19 and a separation of about 2–3 degrees around New Year’s.
- Scientists expect a near visual merge of the Sun, Venus and Mars around January 6 and a rhombus-like configuration with minimal average separation on January 22 before the pattern rapidly disperses; Mercury will be present during the peak period.
- Experts say the alignment will not be visible to the unaided eye from Earth and warn against unsafe optical viewing near the Sun, noting that similar proximity of all three planets is not expected again until September 2038 and this ~3-degree tightening may be unique this century.