This Thursday (Feb. 22), Venus and Mars will appear side by side in the predawn sky, and if you rise early, you can spot this planetary dance with the naked eye or a pair of binoculars.
During the seemingly close encounter, called a planetary conjunction, Venus and Mars will come within about half a degree of each other. Venus, one of the brightest objects in Earth's sky, will easily outshine Mars. While Venus will shine at magnitude -3.9, Mars will reach just magnitude 1.3, according to In The Sky. (The brightest objects in the sky have the lowest numbers on this scale, with the sun shining at magnitude -27, according to NASA.)
