Mars 2009/2010

Mars will come into Opposition on January 29, 2010 in the constellation Cancer. Two days before, on January 27, 2010, the planet will have come to its closest approach to Earth during this apparation: 99.33 million km (0.66399 AU). This is not very close, as Mars will be quite close to its aphelion at the time of this opposition; the aphelion is passed on March 31, 2010. This opposition will occur during Northern Spring and Southern Autumn on Mars, so primarily observable will be the Northern hemisphere of Mars.

This time, the usual opportunity to launch spacecraft to Mars will pass unused, for the first time since 1994: The two missions originally scheduled for this occasion have both been shifted to 2011/2012, Nasa's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL, also named Curiosity) as well as the Russian Space Agency's Phobos-Grunt spacecraft, a mission scheduled to return samples from Mars' moon Phobos.

Chronology of the 2009/2010 Mars Apparition

Dec 5, 2008
Mars in conjunction with the Sun from Earth, in Ophiuchus. Earth in superior conjunction with the Sun as seen from Mars. Distance 371 million km (2.4777 AU), apparent diameter 3.78", brightness +1.33 mag. This conjunction, which also ends the 2007 apparition of Mars, starts the 2009/2010 apparition of Mars.
Dec 22, 2008
Mars leaves constellation Ophiuchus and enters Sagittarius.
Dec 26, 2008
Northern Autumn, Southern Spring Equinox on Mars.
Jan 1, 2009
Mars shines at mag +1.30 in constellation Sagittarius with an apparent diameter of merely 3.86". Distance from Earth is 2.429 AU (363 million km).
Jan 25, 2009
Moon occults Mars (02:45 UT; Antarctica, New Zealand).
Feb 4, 2009
Mars leaves constellation Sagittarius and enters Capricornus.
Mar 11, 2009
Mars leaves constellation Capricornus and enters Aquarius.
Mar 26, 2009
Mars at its greatest southern heliocentric ecliptic latitude (-1.8489 deg).
Apr 15, 2009
Mars leaves constellation Aquarius and enters Pisces.
Apr 21, 2009
Mars in Perihelion (1.38134 AU, 206.6 million km)
May 22, 2009
Northern Winter, Southern Summer Solstice on Mars.
May 31, 2009
Mars comes closer than 2.0 AU.
Mars leaves constellation Pisces and enters Aries.
Jul 2, 2009
Mars leaves constellation Aries and enters Taurus.
Jul 6, 2009
Apparent diameter of Mars exceeds 5".
Aug 20, 2009
Mars passes the Ascending Node of its orbit and will be North of the Ecliptic for 1/2 Mars year.
Aug 26, 2009
Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds +1.0 mag.
Mars leaves constellation Taurus and enters Gemini.
Sep 13, 2009
Moon occults Mars (16:22 UT; Sibiria, Arctic, Greenland).
Sep 17, 2009
Mars comes closer than 1.5 AU.
Oct 12, 2009
Mars leaves constellation Gemini and enters Cancer.
Moon occults Mars (00:53 UT; Indian Ocean).
Oct 27, 2009
Northern Spring, Southern Autumn Equinox on Mars.
Oct 28, 2009
Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds +0.5 mag.
Nov 24, 2009
Mars comes closer than 1.0 AU.
Nov 28, 2009
Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds 0.0 mag.
Dec 1, 2009
Mars leaves constellation Cancer and enters Leo.
Dec 3, 2009
Apparent diameter of Mars exceeds 10".
Dec 21, 2009
Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds -0.5 mag.
Dec 22, 2009
Mars becomes stationary and then starts its retrograde opposition loop, as Earth passes between the Red Planet and the Sun.
Jan 1, 2010
Mars shines at mag -0.77 in constellation Leo with an apparent diameter of 12.67". Distance from Earth is 0.73885 AU (111 million km).
Jan 9, 2010
Mars leaves constellation Leo and enters Cancer again, during retrograde opposition loop.
Jan 11, 2010
Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds -1.0 mag.
Jan 27, 2010
Closest approach of Mars and Earth (0.664 AU = 99.33 million km). Apparent diameter of Mars is 14.105".
Jan 29, 2010
Mars opposition on Earth, Earth in inferior conjunction on Mars. Apparent brightness of Mars reaches -1.28 mag in constellation Cancer.
Feb 14, 2010
Mars' apparent brightness becomes fainter than -1.0 mag.
Feb 21, 2010
Mars at its greatest northern heliocentric ecliptic latitude (+1.8489 deg).
Mar 5, 2010
Mars' apparent brightness becomes fainter than -0.5 mag.
Mar 11, 2010
Mars becomes stationary to end its retrograde opposition loop as the Earth has passed it on its inner orbit, and proceeds in prograde apparent motion.
Mar 22, 2010
Apparent diameter of Mars decreases below 10".
Mar 25, 2010
Mars' apparent brightness becomes fainter than 0.0 mag.
Mar 30, 2010
Mars moves beyond 1.0 AU distance.
Mar 31, 2010
Mars in Aphelion (1.66594 AU, 249.2 million km).
Apr 17, 2010
Mars' apparent brightness becomes fainter than +0.5 mag.
May 12, 2010
Mars leaves constellation Cancer and enters Leo (again).
May 13, 2010
Northern Summer, Southern Winter Solstice on Mars.
May 21, 2010
Mars' apparent brightness becomes fainter than +1.0 mag.
May 25, 2010
Mars moves beyond 1.5 AU distance.
Jul 12, 2010
Apparent diameter of Mars decreases below 5".
Jul 19, 2010
Mars leaves constellation Leo and enters Virgo.
Aug 2, 2010
Mars moves beyond 2.0 AU distance.
Aug 12, 2010
Mars' apparent brightness becomes fainter than +1.5 mag.
Sep 4, 2010
Mars at its faintest: apparent brightness is +1.52 mag.
Sep 7, 2010
Mars passes the Descending Node of its orbit and will be south of the Ecliptic for 1/2 Mars year.
Sep 26, 2010
Mars leaves constellation Virgo and enters Libra.
Sep 28, 2010
Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds again +1.5 mag.
Oct 27, 2010
Mars leaves constellation Libra and enters Scorpius.
Nov 8, 2010
Mars leaves constellation Scorpius and enters Ophiuchus.
Nov 13, 2010
Northern Autumn, Southern Spring Equinox on Mars.
Dec 3, 2010
Mars leaves constellation Ophiuchus and enters Sagittarius.
Dec 6, 2010
Moon occults Mars (00:53 UT; Pacific, Hawaii, North America).
Jan 1, 2011
Mars shines at mag +1.20 in constellation Sagittarius with an apparent diameter of mearely 3.94". Distance from Earth is 2.3742 AU (355 million km).
Jan 8, 2011
Mars at its greatest distance from Earth: 2.37933 AU. The planet's apparent diameter reaches a minimum of 3.936".
Jan 15, 2011
Mars leaves constellation Sagittarius and enters Capricornus.
Feb 4, 2011
Mars in conjunction with the Sun from Earth, in Capricornus. Earth in superior conjunction with the Sun as seen from Mars. Distance 355 million km (2.3748 AU), apparent diameter 3.944", brightness +1.08 mag. This conjunction ends the 2009/2010 apparition of Mars. It also starts the 2012 apparition of Mars.

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Last Modification: July 26, 2011