Mars is moving quickly along the ecliptic through Gemini and rapidly catching up to Jupiter, one constellation below in Cancer.  This is the first picture I have showing both of them in the same frame in the 2026 morning sky; the pair will gradually close and then undergo a conjunction two months from now, on November 16 in Leo.  On that date, Mars will be magnitude +0.70 and Jupiter -2.16, so they will both be brighter than Altair.  That is the prelude to their near simultaneous oppositions next February.   Unannotated image.