The third brightest celestial body, the planet Venus, will meet with the planet closest to the sun, Mercury, in the sky of the State of Qatar and the countries of the Arab region, on Thursday evening, 5 Jumada al-Awwal 1444 AH., corresponding to 29 December 2022 AD, when Mercury will be at an angular distance of 1.5 arc degrees from the center of Venus. This was announced by the Qatar Calendar House on 27 December 2022.
As per Dr. Bashir Marzouk, an astronomer at the Qatar Calendar House, the residents of the countries of the Arab region, including the residents of the State of Qatar, will be able to see and monitor the planets Venus and Mercury together above the western horizon in the evening sky with the naked eye or using astronomical devices after sunset Thursday at 4:54 pm Doha local time, and even before the time of sunset at 6:06 pm Doha local time, taking into account the absence of any obstructions for monitoring, such as residential buildings towards the western horizon, in addition to that the best places to monitor this phenomenon are places far from pollutants light and the environment.
The importance of this astronomical phenomenon lies in the fact that it is a good opportunity to see, monitor and photograph the planets "Venus and Mercury" together at the nearest point on the sky page, in addition to confirming the accuracy of astronomical calculations in calculating the orbits of the movement of celestial bodies, especially the movement of the planets of our solar system, which is a guide for amateur astronomers in the State of Qatar and the countries of the Arab region to learn about the celestial bodies that can be monitored and seen every night in the skies of the countries of the Arab region and the State of Qatar.
