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Oppositions A planet or asteroid is said to be at opposition when it is on the opposite side of the sky as the sun. The planet is up all night at this time. It appears biggest in telescopes because Earth is closest to it at this time. At opposition, the planet may be slightly less than 180° from the sun. That's because it may be a little above or below the ecliptic. The ecliptic is the line on which the sun travels as Earth orbits it. Opposition for any given planet or asteroid doesn't occur at the same time every year, because as Earth orbits the sun so does the other object. And since none of the planets have perfectly circular orbits, the distance at opposition also varies from event to event. Only objects farther from the sun than Earth can reach opposition. Mercury and Venus reach points of greatest elongation far less than 180°
Here are the dates and times (in Universal Time) for the planets Mars through Neptune from 2010 to 2029 along with their distances. Distances are given in
astronomical units (the average Earth-Sun distance), kilometers, and miles. |
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| Mars |
January 29, 2010 - 19:30 at 0.664 AU (99.3 million km or 61.7 million miles) March 3, 2012 - 20:47 at 0.674 AU (101 million km or 62.7 million miles) April 8, 2014 - 22:03 at 0.621 AU (92.9 million km or 57.7 million miles) May 22, 2016 - 10:25 at 0.509 AU (76.1 million km or 47.3 million miles) July 27, 2018 - 02:30 at 0.386 AU (57.7 million km or 35.9 million miles) October 14, 2020 - 02:08 at 0.419 AU (approx. 62.7 million km or 38.9 million miles) December 8, 2022 - 04:39 at 0.550 AU (approx. 82.3 million km or 51.1 million miles) January 16, 2025 - 01:59 at 0.644 AU (approx. 96.3 million km or 59.9 million miles) February 19, 2027 - 16:07 at 0.678 AU (approx. 101 million km or 63 million miles) March 25, 2019 - 08:49 at 0.649 AU (approx. 97.1 million km or 60.3 million miles) |
| Jupiter |
September 21, 2010 - 11:35 at 3.954 AU (591.5 million km or 367.5 million miles) October 29, 2011 - 01:45 at 3.970 AU (593.9 million km or 369 million miles) December 3, 2012 - 01:47 at 4.069 AU (608.7 million km or 378.2 million miles) January 5, 2014 - 21:11 at 4.211 AU (630 million km or 391.4 million miles) February 6, 2015 - 18:17 at 4.346 AU (650.2 million km or 404 million miles) March 8, 2016 - 10:56 at 4.435 AU (663.5 million km or 412.3 million miles) April 7, 2017 - 21:38 at 4.455 AU (666.5 million km or 414.1 million miles) May 9, 2018 - 00:41 at 4.400 AU (658.2 million km or 409 million miles) June 10, 2019 - 15:28 at 4.284 AU (640.9 million km or 398.2 million miles) July 14, 2020 - 07:58 at 4.139 AU (approx. 619.2 million km or 384.7 million miles) August 20, 2021 - 00:26 at 4.013 AU (approx. 600.3 million km or 373 million miles) September 26, 2022 - 19:30 at 3.953 AU (approx. 591.4 million km or 367.5 million miles) November 3, 2023 - 05:06 at 3.983 AU (approx. 595.8 million km or 370.2 million miles) December 7, 2024 - 21:00 at 4.090 AU (approx. 611.9 million km or 380.2 million miles) January 10, 2026 - 08:42 at 4.232 AU (approx. 633.1 million km or 393.4 million miles) February 11, 2027 - 00:27 at 4.361 AU (approx. 652.4 million km or 405.4 million miles) March 12, 2028 - 15:34 at 4.440 AU (approx. 664.2 million km or 412.7 million miles) April 12, 2029 - 04:07 at 4.449 AU (approx. 665.6 million km or 413.6 million miles) |
| Saturn |
March 22, 2010 - 00:29 at 8.504 AU (1272 million km or 790.5 million miles) April 3, 2011 - 23:52 at 8.614 AU (1289 million km or 800.7 million miles) April 15, 2012 - 18:22 at 8.720 AU (1304 million km or 810.6 million miles) April 28, 2013 - 08:22 at 8.816 AU (1319 million km or 819.5 million miles) May 10, 2014 - 18:30 at 8.900 AU (1331 million km or 827.3 million miles) May 23, 2015 - 01:38 at 8.967 AU (1341 million km or 833.5 million miles) June 3, 2016 - 06:41 at 9.015 AU (1349 million km or 838 million miles) June 15, 2017 - 10:21 at 9.043 AU (1353 million km or 840.6 million miles) June 27, 2018 - 13:27 at 9.049 AU (1354 million km or 841.2 million miles) July 9, 2019 - 17:08 at 9.033 AU (1351 million km or 839.7 million miles) July 20, 2020 - 22:27 at 8.995 AU (approx. 1346 million km or 836.1 million miles) August 2, 2021 - 06:12 at 8.935 AU (approx. 1337 million km or 830.6 million miles) August 14, 2022 - 17:09 at 8.857 AU (approx. 1325 million km or 823.3 million miles) August 27, 2023 - 08:25 at 8.763 AU (approx. 1311 million km or 814.6 million miles) September 8, 2024 - 04:36 at 8.658 AU (approx. 1295 million km or 804.8 million miles) September 21, 2025 - 05:37 at 8.547 AU (approx. 1279 million km or 794.5 million miles) October 4, 2026 - 12:21 at 8.434 AU (approx. 1262 million km or 784 million miles) October 18, 2027 - 00:39 at 8.326 AU (approx. 1246 million km or 774 million miles) October 30, 2028 - 17:38 at 8.228 AU (approx. 1231 million km or 764.8 million miles) November 13, 2029 - 14:59 at 8.144 AU (approx. 1218 million km or 757 million miles) |
| Uranus |
September 21, 2010 - 16:59 at 19.088 AU (2855.5 million km or 1774.3 million miles) September 26, 2011 - 00:14 at 19.078 AU (2854 million km or 1773.4 million miles) September 29, 2012 - 07:15 at 19.061 AU (2851.5 million km or 1771.8 million miles) October 3, 2013 - 14:11 at 19.040 AU (2848.3 million km or 1769.9 million miles) October 7, 2014 - 20:58 at 19.014 AU (2844.5 million km or 1767.5 million miles) October 12, 2015 - 03:49 at 18.984 AU (2840 million km or 1764.7 million miles) October 15, 2016 - 10:44 at 18.951 AU (2835 million km or 1761.6 million miles) October 19, 2017 - 17:34 at 18.915 AU (2829.6 million km or 1758.3 million miles) October 24, 2018 - 00:46 at 18.875 AU (2823.7 million km or 1754.5 million miles) October 28, 2019 - 08:15 at 18.833 AU (2817.4 million km or 1750.6 million miles) October 30, 2020 - 15:53 at 18.788 AU (approx. 2810.6 million km or 1746.5 million miles) November 4, 2021 - 23:57 at 18.739 AU (approx. 2803.3 million km or 1741.9 million miles) November 9, 2022 - 08:26 at 18.687 AU (approx. 2795.5 million km or 1737.1 million miles) November 13, 2023 - 17:21 at 18.632 AU (approx. 2787.3 million km or 1732 million miles) November 17, 2024 - 02:45 at 18.572 AU (approx. 2778.3 million km or 1726.4 million miles) November 21, 2025 - 12:25 at 18.509 AU (approx. 2768.9 million km or 1720.5 million miles) November 25, 2026 - 22:41 at 18.444 AU (approx. 2759.2 million km or 1714.5 million miles) November 30, 2027 - 09:22 at 18.377 AU (approx. 2749.2 million km or 1708.2 million miles) December 3, 2028 - 20:28 at 18.308 AU (approx. 2738.8 million km or 1701.8 million miles) December 8, 2029 - 08:10 at 18.239 AU (approx. 2728.5 million km or 1695.4 million miles) |
| Neptune |
August 20, 2010 - 10:06 at 29.006 AU (4339.2 million km or 2696.3 million miles) August 22, 2011 - 23:24 at 28.995 AU (4337.6 million km or 2695.3 million miles) August 24, 2012 - 12:32 at 28.984 AU (4335.9 million km or 2694.2 million miles) August 27, 2013 - 01:43 at 28.973 AU (4334.3 million km or 2693.2 million miles) August 29, 2014 - 14:33 at 28.963 AU (4332.8 million km or 2692.3 million miles) September 1, 2015 - 03:36 at 28.953 AU (4331.3 million km or 2691.3 million miles) September 2, 2016 - 16:36 at 28.946 AU (4330.3 million km or 2690.7 million miles) September 5, 2017 - 05:27 at 28.939 AU (4329.2 million km or 2690 million miles) September 7, 2018 - 18:27 at 28.933 AU (4328.3 million km or 2689.5 million miles) September 10, 2019 - 07:23 at 28.928 AU (4327.6 million km or 2689 million miles) September 11, 2020 - 20:26 at 28.922 AU (approx. 4326.7 million km or 2688.5 million miles) September 14, 2021 - 09:18 at 28.917 AU (approx. 4325.9 million km or 2688 million miles) September 16, 2022 - 22:22 at 28.910 AU (approx. 4324.9 million km or 2687.4 million miles) September 19, 2023 - 11:17 at 28.902 AU (approx. 4323.7 million km or 2686.6 million miles) September 21, 2024 - 00:17 at 28.893 AU (approx. 4322.3 million km or 2685.8 million miles) September 23, 2025 - 12:53 at 28.884 AU (approx. 4321 million km or 2684.9 million miles) September 26, 2026 - 01:35 at 28.876 AU (approx. 4319.8 million km or 2684.2 million miles) September 28, 2027 - 14:16 at 28.868 AU (approx. 4318.6 million km or 2683.4 million miles) September 30, 2028 - 02:46 at 28.862 AU (approx. 4317.7 million km or 2682.9 million miles) October 2, 2029 -2 15:25 at 28.857 AU (approx. 4316.9 million km or 2682.4 million miles) |