Mars and Jupiter stage a cosmic close-up tonight

Skywatchers can enjoy a spectacular celestial alignment tonight as Mars and Jupiter appear to draw unusually close in the night sky. The two planets will be just over one degree apart—about the width of two full moons—as they rise in the constellation Leo alongside the star Regulus, creating a striking triangular grouping visible from midnight onward for observers across the U.S.

This event, known as an appulse, occurs roughly every two to two-and-a-half years when Mars's faster orbit catches up to Jupiter's slower path around the Sun. While the planets appear close from our perspective, they remain separated by nearly 370 million miles in reality. For amateur astronomers, even a modest telescope can reveal Jupiter's cloud bands and Mars's reddish terrain, offering a vivid reminder of our solar system's scale and motion.