Mars reaches opposition this week, marking the best time to see and photograph the planet.
The Red Planet hasn’t been in opposition since 2022 and won’t be again until February 2027, and March 2029.
With the right viewing conditions, Mars will shine at its best and brightest making this a highly anticipated celestial event.
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A planet opposition occurs when the Earth finds itself directly between the Sun and another planet. This week, for example, Mars will be on the ‘opposite’ side of the sky to the Sun from our vantage point on Earth: when the Sun sets in the west, Mars will appear in the east.
As the Royal Observatory explains, only planets that are further out in the Solar System than the Earth can be in opposition: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Mars will reach opposition at 3 UTC (3 am GMT) on 16 January 2025. Although this happens about every two years, NASA says this year it will be closer than average.
The planet will be closest to Earth at 14 UTC (2 pm GMT) on 12 January 2025. It will be 5.3 light-minutes away at a distance of 0.642 astronomical units (96,084,099 kilometers).
NASA currently has five missions currently operating around Mars.
How to see Mars in opposition
The day of opposition is not the only date that you’ll be able to view Mars. The weeks around its opposition date are also a great time to see the planet, so take time to observe it over the coming weeks and note how its features change.
These factors might also affect the visibility of Mars this week, according to BBC Sky at Night:
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Distortions from Earth’s atmosphere
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Brightness of the planet’s disc
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Its proximity to the horizon
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Mars’s own weather
“If you really want to get the best photo of a planet you want to try and aim for when it’s riding really high in the sky and ‘at opposition’,” said Steve Marsh, Astronomy Photographer of the Year judge and BBC Sky at Night Magazine art editor.
“You want the air to be nice and still,” he adds. “If you can get all those three things combined then you are going to have a really great picture at the end of it.”
Mars and the Moon
Some lucky viewers will even get to see the Moon ‘swallow’ Mars for four hours on 13 January 2025. As the Moon passes in front of the Red Planet, it will create a lunar occultation visible from the US, Canada and Africa.
Sadly the UK will not be able to see this rare lunar event. This is because the Moon is so cosmically close to Earth that its position in the sky varies by up to two degrees across the world, according to In The Sky.
Planet opposition dates for 2025
Planetary oppositions for Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are less rare than Mars and happen almost every year.
Below are the upcoming dates for your dairy to see other planets in opposition:
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Saturn– 21 September 2025
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Neptune – 23 September 2025
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Uranus – 21 November 2025