Jupiter and Mars are only one day away from their conjunction, so our view here shows the two at almost their closest. This picture was taken from a dark site near the northern entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway in west-central Virginia. Mars shines at magnitude +0.72 and Jupiter is magnitude -2.15, with only 1°20'11" separating them. Unannotated image.
Over the past several weeks of document- ing Mars' approach to Jupiter, we noted the fact that both planets are situated north of the ecliptic, but without show- ing the orientation and position of the line. The thumbnail marks the ecliptic in relation to the planets and Regulus.
