Mars 2020

During this apparition, Mars will come into Opposition on October 13, 2020 in the constellation Pisces, when it will shine at an apparent visual brightness of -2.62 magnitudes. Seven days earlier, on October 6, 2020, it will have had its closest approach to Earth during this apparition, with a distance of only 38.78 million miles (62.06 million km = 0.41492 AU). This is a comparatively close encounter, as Mars is not too far from its perihelion, which it had passed on August 2, 2020; therefore, this apparition is also called a perihelic apparition. Opposition occurs only about one month after the Northern Winter, Southern Summer Equinox on Mars, which will have been on September 3, 2020. Therefore, the Southern Polar Region (SPR) will be prominently visible this time. At a declination of +5deg at opposition, Mars will be well visible from most places both on Northern and Southern hemisphere on Earth.

As usual, this opposition will provide another good opportunity to send spacecraft to Mars, favorable as it is a perihelic one: The Uniter Arab Emirates launched their first Mars mission, Hope or Emirates Mars Mission, on July 19, followed by China's CNSA who launched Tianwen 1, consisting of an orbiter, a lander and a rover, and finally Nasa who on July 30, launched their Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover together with first Mars helicopter Ingenuity.

Chronology of the 2020 Mars Apparition

Sep 2, 2019: Mars in conjunction with the Sun from Earth, in Leo. Earth in superior conjunction with the Sun as seen from Mars. Distance 400 million km (2.6746 AU), apparent diameter 3.501", brightness +1.74 mag. This conjunction, which also ends the 2018 apparition of Mars, starts the 2018 apparition of Mars.
Sep 24, 2019: Mars leaves constellation Leo and enters Virgo.
Oct 8, 2019: Northern Summer, Southern Winter Solstice on Mars.
Oct 15, 2019: Mars at its least brightness (+1.79 mag)
Dec 1, 2019: Mars leaves constellation Virgo and enters Libra.
Jan 1, 2020: Mars is seen in the morning sky in constellation Libra at a distance of about 326.7 million km (2.18 AU) from Earth, at about +1.6 mag apparent brightness and 4.3" apparent diameter.
Jan 7, 2020: Mars leaves constellation Libra and enters Scorpius.
Jan 13, 2020: Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds +1.5 mag.
Jan 15, 2020: Mars leaves constellation Scorpius and enters Ophiuchus.
Jan 25, 2020: Mars comes closer than 2.0 AU.
Feb 1, 2020: Mars passes the descending node of its orbit, moving to the south or Earth's orbital plane, the ecliptic, and getting southern ecliptic latitudes.
Feb 10, 2020: Apparent diameter of Mars exceeds 5".
Feb 11, 2020: Mars leaves constellation Ophiuchus and enters Sagittarius.
Feb 18, 2020: Moon occults Mars.
Mar 12, 2020: Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds +1.0 mag.
Mar 18, 2020: Moon occults Mars.
Mar 30, 2020: Mars leaves constellation Sagittarius and enters Capricornus.
Apr 9, 2020: Northern Autumn, Southern Spring Equinox on Mars.
Apr 24, 2020: Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds +0.5 mag.
May 9, 2020: Mars leaves constellation Capricornus and enters Aquarius.
May 31, 2020: Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds 0.0 mag.
Jun 2, 2020: Mars comes closer than 1.0 AU.
Jun 12, 2020: Apparent diameter of Mars exceeds 10".
Jun 22, 2020: From Mars, Earth is at its greatest Eastern elongation from the Sun at about 46.60d. Only 84.4 percent of the visible Mars hemisphere is illuminated.
Jun 25, 2020: Mars leaves constellation Aquarius and enters Pisces.
Jul 1, 2020: Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds -0.5 mag.
Jul 8, 2020: Mars reaches its greatest southern heliocentric latitude (-1.8479d).; Mars leaves constellation Pisces and enters Cetus.
Jul 19, 2020: UAE Mars orbiter Hope successfully launched
Jul 23, 2020: China's Tianwen 1 Mars mission (orbiter, lander rover) successfully launched
Jul 26, 2020: Mars leaves constellation Cetus again and re-enters Pisces.
Jul 28, 2020: Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds -1.0 mag.
Jul 30, 2020: Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover with Ingenuity helicopter successfully launched
Aug 2, 2020: Mars in Perihelion (1.38138 AU, 206.6 million km).
Aug 4, 2020: Apparent diameter of Mars exceeds 15".
Aug 9, 2020: Moon occults Mars.
Aug 19, 2020: Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds -1.5 mag.
Aug 30, 2020: Mars comes closer than 0.5 AU.
Sep 3, 2020: Northern Winter, Southern Summer Equinox on Mars.
Sep 6, 2020: Moon occults Mars.
Sep 8, 2020: Apparent diameter of Mars exceeds 20".
Sep 9, 2020: Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds -2.0 mag.
Sep 10, 2020: Mars becomes stationary and then starts its retrograde opposition loop, as Earth passes between the Red Planet and the Sun.
Oct 1, 2020: Apparent brightness of Mars exceeds -2.5 mag.
Oct 3, 2020: Moon occults Mars.
Oct 6, 2020: Closest Approach of Mars and Earth (0.41492 AU = 62.06 million km, 38.78 million miles). Apparent diameter of Mars is 22.56".
Oct 13, 2020: Mars Opposition on Earth, Earth inferior conjunction on Mars. Apparent brightness of Mars reaches -2.62 mag in constellation Pisces.
Oct 20, 2020: Apparent brightness of Mars becomes fainter than -2.5 mag.
Nov 1, 2020: Apparent diameter of Mars decreases below 20".
Nov 5, 2020: Apparent brightness of Mars becomes fainter than -2.0 mag.
Nov 8, 2020: Mars moves beyond 0.5 AU.
Nov 16, 2020: Mars becomes stationary, ends its retrograde opposition loop, and resumes apparent prograde motion.
Nov 20, 2020: Apparent brightness of Mars becomes fainter than -1.5 mag.
Nov 28, 2020: Apparent diameter of Mars decreases below 15".
Dec 2, 2020: Mars passes the ascending node of its orbit, moving to the north or Earth's orbital plane, the ecliptic, and getting northern ecliptic latitudes.
Dec 5, 2020: Apparent brightness of Mars becomes fainter than -1.0 mag.
Dec 22, 2020: Apparent brightness of Mars becomes fainter than -0.5 mag.
Jan 1, 2021: Mars is seen in the evening sky in constellation Pisces at a distance of about 134.4 million km (0.89 AU) from Earth, at about -0.24 mag apparent brightness and 10.4" apparent diameter.
Jan 5, 2021: Apparent diameter of Mars decreases below 10".; Mars leaves constellation Pisces and enters Aries.
Jan 10, 2021: Apparent brightness of Mars becomes fainter than 0.0 mag.
Jan 11, 2021: Mars moves beyond 1.0 AU.
Jan 23, 2021: From Mars, Earth is at its greatest Western elongation from the Sun at about 39.6 deg. Only 88.5 percent of the visible Mars hemisphere is illuminated.
Feb 4, 2020: Apparent brightness of Mars becomes fainter than +0.5 mag.
Feb 8, 2021: Northern Spring, Southern Autumn Equinox on Mars.
Feb 9, 2021: Emirate's Hope Mars Mission successfully entered Mars orbit. Operational as of September 2021.
Feb 10, 2021: Tianwen-1 enters Mars orbit. Orbiter operational as of September 2021.
Feb 18, 2021: Perseverance rover successfully softlanded on Mars. Rover and Ingenuity helicopter both operational on Mars surface as of September 2021. Ingenuity helicopter deployed April 3, first flight April 19, 2021.
Feb 23, 2021: Mars leaves constellation Aries and enters Taurus.
Mar 6, 2021: Apparent brightness of Mars becomes fainter than +1.0 mag.
Apr 13, 2021: Apparent diameter of Mars decreases below 5".
Apr 17, 2021: Moon occults Mars.
Apr 23, 2021: Apparent brightness of Mars becomes fainter than +1.5 mag.
Apr 24, 2021: Mars leaves constellation Taurus and enters Gemini.
Apr 28, 2021: Mars moves beyond 2.0 AU.
May 14, 2021: Tianwen-1 lander and rover softlanded on Mars. Oerational as of September 2021.
Jun 5, 2021: Mars reaches its greatest northern heliocentric latitude (+1.8479 d).
Jun 8, 2021: Mars leaves constellation Gemini and enters Cancer.
Jul 10, 2020: Mars leaves constellation Cancer and enters Leo.
Jul 12, 2021: Mars in Aphelion (1.66596 AU, 249.2 million km).
Jul 23, 2020: Mars at its least brightness (+1.84 mag)
Aug 25, 2021: Northern Summer, Southern Winter Solstice on Mars.
Sep 5, 2020: Mars leaves constellation Leo and enters Virgo.
Oct 8, 2021: Mars in conjunction with the Sun from Earth, in Virgo. Earth in superior conjunction with the Sun as seen from Mars. Distance 393 million km (2.6286 AU), apparent diameter 3.563", brightness +1.65 mag. This conjunction ends the 2020 apparition of Mars. It also starts the 2022 apparition of Mars.

Links

Mars 2020 ephemeris, generated by JPL Ephemeris Generator: For Tucson, Arizona and Munich, Germany
A.L.P.O. Mars Observation Form (blank) [local copy] - filled sample [local copy]
A.L.P.O. B&W Mars Map
Observing Alerts and New Mars Images (A.L.P.O.)
The 2020-2021 Perihelic Apparition of Mars, by Jeff Beish. The "official" ALPO 2020 Pre-Apparition Report. [Local archival copy]
Observing Planet Mars, by Jeffrey D. Beish
General Information for Apparitions of Mars, by Jeffrey D. Beish
Mars Oppositions

Mars Oppositions | < 2018 | 2022 >

Hartmut Frommert [contact]

Last Modification: July 23, 2023