Mars
Mars is in the constellation of
Cancer,
at a distance of
Finder Charts
High precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Mars is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
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.
Celestial Coordinates
Apparent
J2000
Additional Information
Rise and Set Times
Today's rise,
transit and set times of
Mars from
Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
Azimuth: 71.0°
Max altitude: 57.5°
Azimuth: 289.1°
- Mars is
below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
- Given its current magnitude, Mars is visible to the naked eye, easy and bright under dark skies, might be more difficult from heavily light polluted areas.
- Go to interactive sky chart
If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple
customized Quick Access page,
so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.
Distance from Earth
- Mars is below the horizon from Greenwich, UK.
- Given its current magnitude, Mars is visible to the naked eye, easy and bright under dark skies, might be more difficult from heavily light polluted areas.
- Go to interactive sky chart
The distance of Mars from Earth is currently
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
Between 1 January 1600 and 30 December 2499, the closest approach of Mars to Earth happens on Mon Aug 29 2287 at a distance of 0.372254 Astronomical Units, or 55,688,458 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Light Curve
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.
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 |
15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Mars computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Apparent DiameterDiameter | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 May 06 | 08h 43m 26s | +20° 07’ 01” | 1.03 | 6.4” | Cancer |
| 2025 May 07 | 08h 45m 21s | +19° 58’ 28” | 1.04 | 6.3” | Cancer |
| 2025 May 08 | 08h 47m 18s | +19° 49’ 50” | 1.04 | 6.3” | Cancer |
| 2025 May 09 | 08h 49m 15s | +19° 41’ 05” | 1.05 | 6.3” | Cancer |
| 2025 May 10 | 08h 51m 11s | +19° 32’ 13” | 1.06 | 6.2” | Cancer |
| 2025 May 11 | 08h 53m 09s | +19° 23’ 16” | 1.09 | 6.2” | Cancer |
| 2025 May 12 | 08h 55m 07s | +19° 14’ 12” | 1.11 | 6.1” | Cancer |
| 2025 May 13 | 08h 57m 06s | +19° 05’ 01” | 1.10 | 6.1” | Cancer |
| 2025 May 14 | 08h 59m 05s | +18° 55’ 44” | 1.11 | 6.1” | Cancer |
| 2025 May 15 | 09h 01m 04s | +18° 46’ 21” | 1.13 | 6.0” | Cancer |
| 2025 May 16 | 09h 03m 04s | +18° 36’ 52” | 1.15 | 6.0” | Cancer |
| 2025 May 17 | 09h 05m 03s | +18° 27’ 16” | 1.14 | 6.0” | Cancer |
| 2025 May 18 | 09h 07m 04s | +18° 17’ 35” | 1.14 | 5.9” | Cancer |
| 2025 May 19 | 09h 09m 05s | +18° 07’ 47” | 1.15 | 5.9” | Cancer |
Additional Resources on TheSkyLive
- Mars: Complete reference information on TheSkyLive.com
- Where is Mars?: Key information on locating Mars in the sky.
- Distance from Earth: Find out how far Mars is from Earth right now.
- How Bright is Mars?: Current visual brightness (magnitude) and apparent size.
- Rise and Set Times: Mars's rise and set times from your location.
- Interactive Sky Map: planetarium-style interactive visualization of Mars's position in the sky.
- Live Position Tracker: high precision position tracker with deep space imagery.
- Ephemeris: 15 days Mars's computed ephemeris.
- Physical Data. Detailed information about physical properties of Mars, such as mass and geometric properties.