Mars is a terrestrial planet located fourth from the Sun in the Inner Solar System. It has a diameter of 6,779 kilometers and a mass of 6.39 x 10^23 kilograms, making it roughly half the size of Earth. Mars is a rocky planet with a thin atmosphere primarily composed of carbon dioxide, with trace amounts of nitrogen and argon. The planet's surface is characterized by volcanoes, canyons, and impact craters, including Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system. Mars has a day length that is similar to Earth's, with a rotation period of 24.6 hours, and it orbits the Sun once every 687 Earth days. The planet has two small, irregularly shaped moons, Phobos and Deimos. Mars has been the subject of extensive exploration by spacecraft, including NASA's Viking missions in the 1970s and more recent rovers such as Curiosity and Perseverance. The search for evidence of past or present life on Mars remains an important goal of space exploration.
Find it in the Sky
Chose a date & time and view the position of Mars in the sky on our interactive planetarium.
In Evidence
Mars
Mars is in the constellation of Leo, at a distance of
Finder Charts
The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of Mars in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.
The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of Mars against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.
Equatorial Coordinates
Apparent
J2000
Additional Information
Rise and Set Times
The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of Mars from San Marcos, Costa Rica (all times relative to the local timezone America/Costa_Rica):
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
The distance of Mars from Earth is currently
The following graph shows the distance of Mars from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).
The value of the distance of Mars from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.
Closest Approach to Earth
In the period between January 1, 1600 and December 30, 2499, the closest approach of Mars to Earth will happen on Monday 29 August 2287 at a distance of 0.372254 Astronomical Units, or 55,688,458 kilometers:
Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Light Curve
The following chart shows the light curve of Mars, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.
Physical Properties
The table below lists the known key physical properties of Mars.
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 06 2025 | 10h 52m 17s | +08° 12’ 05” | 1.43 | 4.8” | Leo |
| Jul 07 2025 | 10h 54m 27s | +07° 57’ 56” | 1.43 | 4.7” | Leo |
| Jul 08 2025 | 10h 56m 38s | +07° 43’ 42” | 1.44 | 4.7” | Leo |
| Jul 09 2025 | 10h 58m 48s | +07° 29’ 25” | 1.45 | 4.7” | Leo |
| Jul 10 2025 | 11h 00m 59s | +07° 15’ 05” | 1.47 | 4.7” | Leo |
| Jul 11 2025 | 11h 03m 10s | +07° 00’ 41” | 1.48 | 4.7” | Leo |
| Jul 12 2025 | 11h 05m 21s | +06° 46’ 13” | 1.49 | 4.7” | Leo |
| Jul 13 2025 | 11h 07m 32s | +06° 31’ 43” | 1.51 | 4.6” | Leo |
| Jul 14 2025 | 11h 09m 44s | +06° 17’ 09” | 1.52 | 4.6” | Leo |
| Jul 15 2025 | 11h 11m 55s | +06° 02’ 31” | 1.53 | 4.6” | Leo |
| Jul 16 2025 | 11h 14m 07s | +05° 47’ 51” | 1.54 | 4.6” | Leo |
| Jul 17 2025 | 11h 16m 19s | +05° 33’ 07” | 1.56 | 4.6” | Leo |
| Jul 18 2025 | 11h 18m 31s | +05° 18’ 20” | 1.56 | 4.6” | Leo |
| Jul 19 2025 | 11h 20m 43s | +05° 03’ 30” | 1.56 | 4.6” | Leo |
Additional Resources on TheSkyLive
- Mars: Complete reference information on TheSkyLive.com.
- Where is Mars?: Key information on where to find Mars in the sky.
- Distance of Mars 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: Rise and set times of Mars from your location.
- Interactive Sky Map: Planetarium-style interactive visualization of Mars's position in the sky.
- Live Position Tracker: High precision real time tracker of Mars's position using deep space imagery.
- Ephemeris: 15 days Mars's computed ephemeris.
- Physical Data: Detailed information about physical properties of Mars.