☍ Planetary Oppositions
Find out when Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are at opposition: exact date and time, distance to Earth, brightness, apparent size and Saturn's ring tilt. A calendar for any year and the upcoming oppositions from today. Calculated in your browser.

Planetary oppositions by year

Find out when Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are at opposition: exact date and time, distance to Earth, brightness, apparent size and Saturn's ring tilt. A calendar for any year and the upcoming oppositions from today. Calculated in your browser.

What the calculator shows

☍ Opposition
The Sun, Earth and the planet in a straight line. The planet is visible all night and highest at midnight.
📏 Closest approach
The minimum distance to Earth. For Mars it can fall on a different day than the opposition.
✦ Brightness and size
For each opposition the distance, magnitude and apparent disc diameter are shown.
♄ Saturn's rings
The ring tilt toward us varies from ~0° (edge-on) to ~27° and strongly affects the planet's brightness.

How to use

  1. At the top: the upcoming oppositions of all five planets from today
  2. Pick a year to see a timeline with all of that year's oppositions
  3. The table gives the exact time, distance to Earth, brightness and disc size
  4. For Mars the date of closest approach is given, and for Saturn the ring tilt

FAQ

What is a planetary opposition?
It is the moment when, seen from Earth, a planet lies in the direction opposite the Sun: the Sun, Earth and planet are roughly in a straight line. The planet rises at sunset, is high in the night sky, at its brightest and close to Earth, so it is the best time for observing.
Which planets can be at opposition?
Only those orbiting beyond Earth: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune (as well as Pluto and asteroids). Mercury and Venus are never at opposition, because Earth cannot get between them and the Sun.
How often do oppositions occur?
Mars about every 26 months (780 days), Jupiter every 13 months, Saturn every 12.6 months, Uranus and Neptune almost every year, shifting by a few days.
What is a great opposition of Mars?
An opposition close to Mars's perihelion, when the distance to Earth is about 0.38–0.40 AU (over 55 million km). The planet is then much brighter and larger. Such events occur every 15–17 years, for example in 2003 and 2018. The next one is in 2035.
Does the closest approach always fall on the day of opposition?
Not exactly. For Mars the minimum distance can differ from the opposition date by a few days (by 4 days in 2018), so for it the page shows the date of closest approach separately.
How accurate are the calculations?
Planetary positions are computed from the approximate JPL orbital elements (valid for 1800–2050). Opposition dates are accurate to about a day, and brightness to a few tenths of a magnitude.
Is my data sent to a server?
No. All calculations run in your browser.