Mars continues to bear down on Jupiter as we approach the one-month mark of the autumn season in the northern hemisphere. Mars has left the Beehive Cluster (M44) behind and is making its way through eastern Cancer, towards Jupiter's position in western Leo above Regulus. Mars is magnitude +1.00 and Jupiter is -1.99, so they are almost exactly three magnitudes different, or 2.512^3 = 15.85 (Jupiter) times brighter (than Mars). They are separated by 10°38'14" this morning. Unannotated image.
Mars happens to be in close proximity to one of the excellent examples of a carbon star ~ X Cancri. This is a magnitude 5.14 star with spectral classification C-N4.5 and which has been known since the late 1800's to be vari- able. X Cancri is in the stage of its exist- ence in which it is fusing helium into heav- ier elements in its interior.
Hover over the thumbnail below to see Mars' position this morning near X Cancri and to compare their colors.
Mars and Jupiter are now less than a month away from their conjunction in western Leo, which will occur on November 16. Observers in the eastern United States will see them at their closest high in a dark sky in the hours after midnight.