Mars Opposition: Planetary Alignment of Earth-Sun-Mars Tonight

Known as the Opposition of Mars, the Earth will line up in a direct line between the Sun and Mars tonight. According to astronomers an opposition with the Red Planet occurs every 26 months.

As the sun sets in the west this evening, Mars will rise out of the eastern horizon and remain in direct “opposition” of the Sun throughout the night, with Mars high overhead at midnight with the Sun directly underfoot on the other side of the Earth.

In this video below from NASA, astronomers explain the science behind the Opposition of Mars.

While not a completely rare event, many superstitious individuals often attach doom and dread with such astronomical alignments.

NASA and space scientists often like to take advantage of planetary alignments like this to launch spacecraft.

The Opposition of Mars occurs within just a few days of the Red Planet’s closest approach to Earth as the two planets orbit about the Sun. Today, the two planets are only about 57 million miles apart.