Mars invades the Beehive

We’ll get to Mars’ close encounter with the Beehive Cluster in a moment. But let’s start with (mag. 0.3, dia. 7.8”, May 15), which was in superior conjunction (ie. on the other side of the Sun) in mid-April, so in May it will make its reappearance low in the western evening twilight. Although the planet will reach its greatest eastern elongation (ie. angle