The Qatar Calendar House announced that three of the planets of the solar system (Jupiter, Venus and Mars) will approach the moon in the sky of the State of Qatar during the month of March, as the residents of the State of Qatar can see and monitor the three planets in the sky in the evening after sunset.
Dr. Bashir Marzouk, an astronomer at the Qatar Calendar House, stated that on the evening of Wednesday, the 30th of Sha’ban 1444 AH, corresponding to the 22nd of March 2023 AD, the giant planet of the solar system, Jupiter, will fall near the crescent of the blessed month of Ramadan, and the residents of the State of Qatar will be able to observe the crescent and Jupiter together. With the naked eye or astronomical devices above the western horizon of the sky of the State of Qatar from after sunset on Wednesday until the time of sunset of the crescent, knowing that the time of sunset will be at 5:46 pm, while the crescent will set at 6:36 pm Doha local time.
As for the evening of the second Friday of the blessed month of Ramadan 1444 AH corresponding to March 24, 2023 AD, the brightest planet of the solar system / Venus / will reach the closest point to the crescent of the blessed month of Ramadan, and they can be seen together with the naked eye towards the western horizon of the sky of the State of Qatar from after Friday sunset until Venus sunset time, and the sunset time will be at 5:48 pm, while Venus will set at 8:25 pm Doha local time.
The astronomer added: "That on the evening of Tuesday 6 of the blessed month of Ramadan 1444 AH corresponding to March 28, 2023 AD, the red planet / Mars / will meet with the moon of the month of Ramadan, where Mars will be at an angular distance of approximately 2.3 arc degrees south of the center of the moon, and the residents of the State of Qatar will be able to observe and see Mars and the moon together with the naked eye towards the southwestern horizon of the country’s sky from after sunset at 5:49 pm, until 12 minutes before the sunset time of Mars after midnight on Wednesday, Doha local time.
In conclusion, Dr. Marzouk explained that the importance of these astronomical phenomena lies in that they are a good opportunity to enjoy seeing and monitoring the conjunction of the planets of the solar system with the moon at the announced times, in addition to confirming the accuracy of the astronomical calculations used in calculating the orbits of the movement of planets and stars, and they are also a guide for amateur astronomers. To get acquainted with the view of the sky during the current month, emphasizing that they are natural phenomena and will not affect the planet as non-specialists claim.
