Mars and Jupiter's special space dance: A sky event to see.

Mars and Jupiter are getting very close in the sky this week. This is the closest they will be for the next ten years. It will look like they are almost touching, but they are actually millions of miles apart.

The best time to see them will be early Wednesday morning before sunrise. Look to the east, near the Taurus constellation. You won't need any special equipment to see them, just look up with your eyes.

These close encounters between planets are called conjunctions. They happen every few years because the planets orbit the sun at different speeds. Scientists can predict these conjunctions far in advance.

Mars and Jupiter were last this close in 2018 and won't be this close again until 2033. The last time they were this close and appeared as one object was in 1761. They will be almost as close in the year 2348.

This event is happening at the same time as the Perseid meteor shower, which is one of the brightest meteor showers of the year. So if you are looking up at the sky this week, you might see two planets and some shooting stars!