Mars solar conjunction 2025: Details of the planet's disappearance and Jeddah astronomical warnings
The Jeddah Astronomical Society announced a prominent astronomical event that the solar system will witness on Friday, January 9, 2025, as Mars enters the “solar conjunction” phase, a periodic astronomical phenomenon that leads to the complete disappearance of the red planet from view for several weeks.
Details of the solar conjunction phenomenon
Engineer Majed Abu Zahra, head of the Jeddah Astronomical Society, explained that this event occurs when Mars passes close to the Sun's disk as seen from Earth. In this case, the angular separation between the planet and the Sun becomes nearly zero degrees, making it impossible to observe Mars due to its complete immersion in the Sun's intense glare.
This phenomenon occurs when Mars is on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth, meaning the Sun is positioned directly between the two planets. As a result of this alignment, the distance between Earth and Mars reaches its maximum, approximately 359 million kilometers, placing it at its farthest point from us during its current orbit.
Impact of the phenomenon on international space missions
The effects of the solar conjunction are not limited to amateur astronomers and terrestrial observers; they extend to global space agencies such as NASA and ESA. It is a well-established scientific fact that this period is critical for space communications, as the sun, positioned between Earth and Mars, causes interference with radio signals exchanged between ground control stations and probes or rovers on or in orbit around Mars.
Space agencies typically suspend sending complex commands to vehicles during the conjunction period to avoid the possibility of data distortion or the execution of incorrect commands that could harm the vehicles, contenting themselves with receiving simple status signals until the phenomenon ends.
Impossibility of monitoring and safety warnings
Abu Zahra pointed out that Mars, even assuming it could be observed, would appear as a very small disk, no larger than 3.9 arcseconds, with a very faint brightness. He categorically stressed the danger of attempting to observe the planet at this time using telescopes or binoculars, warning that pointing the lenses towards the area surrounding the sun could cause concentrated sunlight to enter the eye, resulting in retinal burns and permanent, irreversible vision damage.
Mars returns and the encounter cycle
Regarding the planet's reappearance, the association explained that Mars will begin its gradual angular distance from the sun over the coming weeks, reappearing in the dawn sky low on the eastern horizon before sunrise. Its brightness and apparent size will increase over the months, in preparation for the anticipated "opposition" event in about 26 months, the golden period when the planet is at its closest point to Earth and at its brightest, making it visible throughout the night.
