Mars
Mars Position
Mars is currently in the constellation of Sagittarius. The current Right Ascension is 20h 04m 52s and the Declination is -21° 17’ 06”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Mars is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see full screen Online Planetarium)
Higher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Mars is right now (view fullscreen)
Also check out Where is Mars?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Mars in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Mars Distance
The distance of Mars from Earth is currently 221,350,383 kilometers, equivalent to 1.479636 Astronomical Units. Light takes 12 minutes and 18.3454 seconds to travel from Mars and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Mars from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.
The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of Mars from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Mars to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Mars to Earth happens on Mon Aug 31 2082 at a distance of 0.37356574 Astronomical Units, or 55,884,640 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Mars brightness
The current visual magnitude of Mars is 0.81.
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Mars, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.
Mars rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Mars rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Mars touches the horizon, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.
Mars Physical Data
The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of Mars. Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Physical Parameter | Value | Relative to Earth |
|---|---|---|
| Diameter | 6779 km | 0.5320 |
| Mass | 0.641693 x 1024 kg | 0.1074 |
| Density | 3.934 gr/cm3 | 0.7135 |
| Escape Velocity | 5.03 km/s | 0.4495 |
| Sideral Rotation | 24.6230 hours | 1.0288 |
| Absolute Magnitude | -1.52 | |
| Geometric Albedo | 0.15 |
Mars 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Mars computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Mars in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Apparent DiameterDiameter | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Mar 22 | 19h 42m 23s | -22° 08’ 31” | 0.90 | 6.1” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Mar 23 | 19h 45m 20s | -22° 02’ 22” | 0.89 | 6.1” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Mar 24 | 19h 48m 19s | -21° 56’ 03” | 0.87 | 6.1” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Mar 25 | 19h 51m 16s | -21° 49’ 32” | 0.86 | 6.2” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Mar 26 | 19h 54m 14s | -21° 42’ 48” | 0.85 | 6.2” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Mar 27 | 19h 57m 11s | -21° 35’ 56” | 0.84 | 6.2” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Mar 28 | 20h 00m 07s | -21° 28’ 51” | 0.83 | 6.3” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Mar 29 | 20h 03m 03s | -21° 21’ 38” | 0.82 | 6.3” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Mar 30 | 20h 06m 01s | -21° 14’ 12” | 0.81 | 6.3” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Mar 31 | 20h 08m 57s | -21° 06’ 35” | 0.80 | 6.4” | Capricornus |
| 2020 Apr 01 | 20h 11m 52s | -20° 58’ 50” | 0.78 | 6.4” | Capricornus |
| 2020 Apr 02 | 20h 14m 48s | -20° 50’ 53” | 0.77 | 6.4” | Capricornus |
| 2020 Apr 03 | 20h 17m 43s | -20° 42’ 47” | 0.76 | 6.5” | Capricornus |
| 2020 Apr 04 | 20h 20m 36s | -20° 34’ 29” | 0.75 | 6.5” | Capricornus |