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Mars comes closer to Earth more than any other planet save Venus at its nearest—56 million km is the closest distance between Mars and Earth, whereas the closest Venus comes to Earth is 40 million km. Mars comes closest to Earth every other year, around the time of its opposition, when Earth is sweeping between the Sun and Mars. Extra-close ...
A more exact opposition occasionally occurs with mathematical regularity if the Moon is at its usual sun and Earth-aligning point so that it appears full and happens to be aligning with the ecliptic (Earth's orbital plane) during the descending or ascending phase of its 5° inclined (tilted) orbit, which is more concisely termed at a node of ...
Mars 0°42' south of Jupiter 67.4° West March 31, 2020 11:56 Mars 0°55' south of Saturn 70.6° West April 3, 2020 16:17 Mercury 1°24' south of Neptune 25.9° West May 22, 2020 08:44 Mercury 0°53' south of Venus 18.4° East June 12, 2020 13:18 Mars 1°44' south of Neptune 91.5° east December 21, 2020 18:20 [1] Jupiter 0°06' north of Saturn
For both at triple conjunctions between Mars and Jupiter and for triple conjunctions between Mars and Saturn it is possible that two such events follow at an interval of only 2 years. This last happened for Mars and Jupiter in 927 and 929 and will be again in 2742 and 2744.
Mars is at its brightest when it is in opposition, which occurs approximately every twenty-five months. Jupiter and Saturn are the largest of the five planets, but are farther from the Sun, and therefore receive less sunlight. Nonetheless, Jupiter is often the next brightest object in the sky after Venus.
Look up to the sky Wednesday morning and you'll see what astronomers call a planetary conjunction as Jupiter and Mars appear to be close together.
The superior planets, orbiting outside the Earth's orbit, do not exhibit a full range of phases since their maximum phase angles are smaller than 90°. Mars often appears significantly gibbous, it has a maximum phase angle of 45°. Jupiter has a maximum phase angle of 11.1° and Saturn of 6°, [1] so their phases are almost always full.
The holiday season holds a special gift, as skygazers on Earth will be treated to a great conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn. Using binoculars or a backyard telescope, it will not only ...