Mars
Mars Position
Mars is currently in the constellation of Sagittarius. The current Right Ascension is 18h 25m 29s and the Declination is -23° 38’ 39”.
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 261,875,846 kilometers, equivalent to 1.750532 Astronomical Units. Light takes 14 minutes and 33.5238 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 1.16.
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 Feb 18 | 18h 03m 21s | -23° 39’ 33” | 1.22 | 5.2” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Feb 19 | 18h 06m 21s | -23° 40’ 05” | 1.22 | 5.2” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Feb 20 | 18h 09m 21s | -23° 40’ 26” | 1.21 | 5.2” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Feb 21 | 18h 12m 23s | -23° 40’ 32” | 1.20 | 5.2” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Feb 22 | 18h 15m 23s | -23° 40’ 27” | 1.19 | 5.3” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Feb 23 | 18h 18m 24s | -23° 40’ 10” | 1.18 | 5.3” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Feb 24 | 18h 21m 24s | -23° 39’ 41” | 1.17 | 5.3” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Feb 25 | 18h 24m 24s | -23° 38’ 57” | 1.16 | 5.3” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Feb 26 | 18h 27m 25s | -23° 38’ 03” | 1.15 | 5.4” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Feb 27 | 18h 30m 27s | -23° 36’ 55” | 1.14 | 5.4” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Feb 28 | 18h 33m 27s | -23° 35’ 35” | 1.13 | 5.4” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Feb 29 | 18h 36m 28s | -23° 34’ 01” | 1.12 | 5.4” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Mar 01 | 18h 39m 29s | -23° 32’ 17” | 1.11 | 5.5” | Sagittarius |
| 2020 Mar 02 | 18h 42m 29s | -23° 30’ 19” | 1.10 | 5.5” | Sagittarius |