In the next two weeks, the Sun will host a full parade of the three planets closest to Earth – Mercury, Venus, and Mars. Venus and Mars have already passed the phase of maximum convergence, forming an extremely rare conjunction on Christmas, and are now gradually moving apart from the Sun. Meanwhile, Mercury has just begun its convergence and has already been recorded on space images as a bright object quickly moving toward the solar disk. Venus and Mars are currently not visible in the latest images due to their proximity to the Sun and are hidden by the coronagraph’s artificial «moon», which blocks out the blinding light. In the coming days, the planets will move far enough apart to emerge from the masking disk and appear in new images from solar observatories.
By January 22, the Sun and the three planets will align in an almost symmetrical configuration, resembling a diamond or a cross, with distances between the objects around 2-3 degrees. After this, the parade will begin to disband: Mercury will be the first to leave the Sun, followed by Venus and Mars. The next, much wider (within 10 degrees) convergence of all three planets near the Sun will only occur in September 2038. The expected convergence of about 3 degrees, forming such a symmetrical configuration, is almost certainly unique at least in this century. The Laboratory of Solar Astronomy of IKI and ISSF is actively monitoring these developments, enabling astronomers to capture these magnificent views and contribute to our understanding of planetary movements. Recent observations suggest that solar activity around this period may provide additional spectacular solar phenomena to observe as well.
