Mars 2013/2014

During this apparition, Mars will come into Opposition on April 8, 2014 in the constellation Virgo, when it will shine at an apparent visual brightness of -1.48, about the apparent brightness of Sirius. Six days later, on April 14, 2014, it will have its closest approach to Earth during this apparition: About 92.39 million km (0.61756 AU), and show up as a small disk at an apparent diameter of 15.16". This represents one of the less close approaches as Mars is considerably close to its aphelion which it will have passed on January 2, 2014, thus an aphelic opposition. It will also be close to Mars' Northern Summer Solstice which occurs on February 15, so that Mars' North Pole, together with the North Polar Cap (NPC), will be well visible from Earth, and in turn Earth will be at Northern declinition when viewed from Mars.

As usual for oppositions, this one will provide another favorable opportunity to send spacecraft to Mars. The Indian space agency has successfully launched its first spacecraft to Mars, Mangalyaan, or Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), on November 5, 2013; it is scheduled to arrive at Mars on September 24, 2014. Nasa has successfully launched a new orbiter, MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission), on November 18, 2013, which is scheduled to arrive in Mars orbit on September 22, 2014.

Chronology of the 2013/2014 Mars Apparition

Apr 17, 2013
Mars in conjunction with the Sun from Earth, in Pisces. Earth in superior conjunction with the Sun as seen from Mars. Distance 364 million km (2.4321 AU), apparent diameter 3.853", brightness +1.19 mag. This conjunction, which also ends the 2011/2012 apparition of Mars, starts the 2014 apparition of Mars.
Apr 18, 2013
Mars leaves constellation Pisces and enters Aries.
May 9, 2013
Moon occults Mars
May 22, 2013
Mars leaves constellation Aries and enters Taurus.
May 25, 2013
Mars passes the Ascending Node of its orbit and will be North of the Ecliptic for 1/2 Mars year.
Jun 5, 2013
Mars at its greatest distance from Earth (2.46649 AU, 368.9 million km). Apparent diameter: 3.797".
Jun 13, 2013
Mars becomes fainter than +1.5 mag.
Jul 14, 2013
Mars leaves constellation Taurus and enters Gemini.
Aug 1, 2013
Northern Spring, Southern Autumn Equinox on Mars.
Aug 24, 2013
Mars leaves constellation Gemini and enters Cancer.
Aug 31, 2013
Mars at minimal apparent visual brightness, +1.65 mag.
Sep 25, 2013
Mars leaves constellation Cancer and enters Leo.
Oct 21, 2013
Mars comes closer than 2.0 AU.
Oct 28, 2013
Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds +1.5 mag.
Nov 5, 2013
Magalyaan launched successfully
Nov 6, 2013
Apparent diameter of Mars exceeds 5".
Nov 18, 2013
MAVEN launched successfully
Nov 25, 2013
Mars leaves constellation Leo and enters Virgo.
Nov 26, 2013
Mars at its greatest northern heliocentric ecliptic latitude (+1.8484 deg).
Dec 18, 2013
Mars comes closer than 1.5 AU.
Dec 20, 2013
Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds +1.0 mag.
Jan 1, 2014
Mars shines at an apparent visual brightness +0.84 mag in constellation Virgo, with an apparent diameter of 6.9". Distance from Earth is 1.3649 AU (204.1 million km).
Jan 2, 2014
Mars in Aphelion (1.66606 AU, 249.2 million km)
Jan 20, 2014
Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds +0.5 mag.
Feb 6, 2014
Mars comes closer than 1.0 AU.
Feb 11, 2014
Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds 0.0 mag.
Feb 13, 2014
Apparent diameter of Mars exceeds 10".
Feb 15, 2014
Northern Summer, Southern Winter Solstice on Mars.
Mar 1, 2014
Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds -0.5 mag.
Mar 19, 2014
Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds -1.0 mag.
Apr 6, 2014
Apparent diameter of Mars exceeds 15".
Apr 8, 2014
Mars opposition on Earth, Earth in inferior conjunction on Mars. Apparent brightness of Mars reaches -1.48 mag in constellation Virgo.
Apr 14, 2014
Closest approach of Mars and Earth (0.61756 AU = 92.39 million km). Apparent diameter of Mars is 15.16".
Apr 22. 2014
Apparent diameter of Mars decreases below 15".
May 9, 2014
Mars' apparent brightness becomes fainter than -1.0 mag.
Jun 1, 2014
Mars' apparent brightness becomes fainter than -0.5 mag.
Jun 11, 2014
Mars passes the Descending Node of its orbit and will be south of the Ecliptic for 1/2 Mars year.
Jun 23, 2014
Apparent diameter of Mars decreases below 10".
Jun 29, 2014
Mars' apparent brightness becomes fainter than 0.0 mag.
Jul 3, 2014
Mars moves beyond 1.0 AU distance.
Jul 6, 2014
Moon occults Mars
Aug 10, 2014
Mars leaves constellation Virgo and enters Libra, after 8 1/2 months in that constellation.
Aug 12, 2014
Mars' apparent brightness becomes fainter than +0.5 mag.
Aug 18, 2014
Northern Autumn, Southern Spring Equinox on Mars.
Sep 13, 2014
Mars leaves constellation Libra and enters Scorpius.
Sep 22, 2014
MAVEN spacecraft to arrive at Mars
Sep 24, 2014
Mars moves beyond 1.5 AU distance.
Sep 24, 2014
Indian spacecraft Mangalyaan to arrive at Mars.
Sep 25, 2014
Mars leaves constellation Scorpius and enters Ophiuchus.
Oct 21, 2014
Mars leaves constellation Ophiuchus and enters Sagittarius.
Nov 16, 2014
Mars at its greatest southern heliocentric ecliptic latitude (-1.8484 deg).
Nov 28, 2014
Mars' apparent brightness becomes fainter than +1.0 mag.
Dec 4, 2014
Mars leaves constellation Sagittarius and enters Capricornus.
Dec 10, 2014
Apparent diameter of Mars decreases below 5".
Dec 12, 2014
Mars in Perihelion (1.38121 AU, 206.6 million km)
Jan 1, 2015
Mars shines at an apparent visual brightness of +1.10 mag in constellation Capricornus, with an apparent diameter of 4.8". Distance from Earth is 1.9696 AU (294.6 million km).
Jan 7, 2015
Mars moves beyond 2.0 AU distance.
Jan 9, 2015
Mars leaves constellation Capricornus and enters Aquarius.
Jan 12, 2015
Northern Winter, Southern Summer Solstice on Mars.
Feb 11, 2015
Mars leaves constellation Aquarius and enters Pisces.
Mar 1, 2015
Mars leaves constellation Pisces and enters Cetus for a short 1-day stay.
Mar 2, 2015
Mars leaves constellation Cetus again and re-enters Pisces.
Mar 21, 2015
Moon occults Mars
Mar 30, 2015
Mars leaves constellation Pisces and enters Aries.
Apr 12, 2015
Mars passes the Ascending Node of its orbit and will be North of the Ecliptic for 1/2 Mars year.
May 3, 2015
Mars leaves constellation Aries and enters Taurus.
May 12, 2015
Mars moves beyond 2.5 AU distance.
Jun 14, 2015
Mars in conjunction with the Sun from Earth, in Taurus. Earth in superior conjunction with the Sun as seen from Mars. Distance 384 million km (2.5684 AU), apparent diameter 3.648", brightness +1.49 mag. This conjunction ends the 2013/2014 apparition of Mars. It also starts the 2016 apparition of Mars.

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Last Modification: November 5, 2013