How far is Mars from Earth? The distance now and at the 2027 close approach

On 11 October 2026 (at 00:00 UT), Mars is about 238.6 million km (148.2 million miles) from Earth. Its light takes 13.3 minutes to reach us. That distance changes every day: between 2003 and 2035 it swings from 55.8 million km to 400.2 million km, in our calculation from NASA JPL Horizons data.

Dates are in Universal Time (UT, the time in London in winter). Mars is coming closer right now. It reaches opposition on 19 February 2027 at 15:44 UT, when it is opposite the Sun in our sky and visible all night, and its closest point to Earth about eight hours later, on 20 February at about 00:00 UT. Below: the distance month by month, why it changes so much, and how to see Mars at its best.

How far away is Mars right now?

Mars and Earth both circle the Sun, at different speeds, so the gap between them never stands still. This table lists the distance at 00:00 UT on the first day of each month until the end of 2027, from NASA JPL Horizons. Brightness is in magnitudes: the lower the number, the brighter Mars looks.

The distance shrinks from about 249 million km in early October 2026 to about 101 million km in late February 2027, then grows again. For other dates and your own location, our Tonight page shows when Mars is up.

Why does the distance between Earth and Mars change so much?

Earth needs one year to go around the Sun; Mars needs 687 Earth days, NASA says. So Earth regularly catches up with Mars and overtakes it on the inside lane. Around that time Earth passes roughly between the Sun and Mars, and the two planets are at their closest. When they are on opposite sides of the Sun, they are at their farthest: about 400 million km apart.

In our data, oppositions follow each other every 764 to 810 days, 780 days on average, or about 26 months.

What is the average distance? That depends on how you average. NASA writes that Mars is "on average, 140 million miles from Earth" (about 225 million km), without saying how that average was worked out. For comparison: halfway between the closest and farthest distances of 2003 to 2035 is about 228.0 million km. The mean of all daily distances from 2003 to 2035 is about 250.9 million km (155.9 million miles), in our calculation. That is higher because Mars spends more time far away than close by: on about 59% of the days it was farther than the halfway point.

Every close approach from 2003 to 2035

The closest approach is not exactly at opposition: in 2003 to 2035 it came up to 8.4 days before or after it. And not every close approach is equally close, because Mars' orbit is more oval than Earth's. NASA's Mars facts give its average distance from the Sun as 228 million km; in our calculation with Astronomy Engine, it varies between about 206.6 million km and 249.2 million km. When Earth overtakes Mars near Mars' closest point to the Sun, as in August 2003, the planets get very close. Near Mars' farthest point, as in February 2027 (Mars' farthest point follows on 4 March 2027), even the closest approach stays above 100 million km.

The 2027 approach is the most distant in this whole 2003-2035 series, just beyond 2012. From then on, the close approaches get closer again, and in September 2035 Mars comes almost as close as in 2003.

The 2003 record: closest in nearly 60,000 years

On 27 August 2003 Mars came closer to Earth than it had in "nearly 60,000 years", NASA wrote at the time: "a mere 34.7 million miles (55.8 million kilometers)". Our Horizons data puts the closest point at about 10:00 UT that day, at 55.8 million km, or 34.6 million miles; the small difference from NASA's 34.7 comes from rounding.

Through a telescope, a closer Mars looks bigger. In 2003 its disc was 25.1 arcseconds wide (an arcsecond is 1/3600 of a degree); at the 2027 close approach it will be 13.8 arcseconds, a little over half as wide. On 11 October 2026 it is only 5.9 arcseconds. To the naked eye, Mars always looks like a bright point of light, however close it is. It will never look as big as the Moon, which is about 1,800 arcseconds wide.

How to see Mars at its closest in February 2027

Around opposition, Mars rises in the east around sunset, is highest around midnight and sets in the west around sunrise. From New York and London it is then high in the south; from Sydney, in the north. You can see it all night. No telescope is needed: look for a bright, orange-red "star" that does not twinkle as much as the stars around it.

Our calculation for the evening of 19 February into 20 February 2027, in local time (flat horizon). In Sydney the moment of opposition already falls on 20 February, at 02:44 local time.

At its closest approach Mars shines at magnitude −1.3 (NASA JPL Horizons). It stays bright for weeks before and after; on 1 March 2027 it is still at −1.2.

The Moon brightens the sky. Full moon falls on 20 February 2027 at 23:24 UT, our calculation shows. At 05:15 UT on 20 February the nearly full Moon is about 1° from Jupiter; a day later it is about 8° from Mars. Mars and Jupiter are bright enough to stand out anyway. Our full moon calendar lists every full moon of 2026 and 2027.

Mars, Jupiter, Regulus and the Moon: which is which?

In February 2027 Mars is not alone in Leo. Here is how to tell the bright points apart around the closest approach. Magnitudes are from NASA JPL Horizons for 20 February; the separations are for 05:15 UT on 20 February, midnight in New York (Astronomy Engine), unless stated otherwise:

Ten degrees is about the width of your fist at arm's length. Apart from the Moon, Jupiter is the brightest of the group, so it is easy to mistake it for Mars. The colour gives Mars away.

Where is Mars in the sky tonight?

In October 2026 Mars is a morning object. It is still far away (about 238.6 million km) and fairly faint (magnitude +1.1), in front of the constellation Cancer. From New York it rises after midnight, at 01:02 on 12 October, and climbs until dawn. Our Tonight page for New York shows Mars from 02:01 on the night of 11 to 12 October (the page counts a planet once it is 10° up and the Sun is at least 6° below the horizon), highest within that window at 06:36, at 60° in the southeast; Jupiter is up too.

As the February 2027 opposition approaches, Mars rises earlier and gets brighter. From New York it rises at 22:44 on 1 December and at 19:38 on 25 January 2027, in our calculation, and around opposition it is up all night. Our Tonight page calculates the times for your own location and date.

How long does light or a radio signal take from Mars?

Light and radio waves travel at about 300,000 km per second. Even so, they need 3.1 minutes at the record distance of 2003, 5.6 minutes at the February 2027 close approach and 13.3 minutes on 11 October 2026, in our calculation. NASA describes a communication delay "of up to 20 minutes one way"; at the very farthest distances of 2003 to 2035, our calculation gives about 22.3 minutes.

That delay is why you cannot steer a Mars rover live like a remote-control car. From Mars, Earth looks like a bright evening or morning star: NASA's Curiosity rover photographed it on 31 January 2014, when the planets were about 160 million km apart, NASA says. Our Horizons data for that day gives 159.6 million km.

How long does it take to get to Mars?

For NASA's Perseverance rover: 203 days. It launched on 30 July 2020 and landed in Jezero Crater on 18 February 2021, NASA reports, after a journey of "293 million miles (472 million kilometers)".

That is far more than the distance between the planets. On launch day Mars was about 97.6 million km from Earth, by our Horizons data; on landing day about 203.3 million km. Spacecraft do not fly straight at Mars: they travel on a curved path around the Sun to reach the spot where Mars will be months later. Opposition took place on 13 October 2020, about 2.5 months after the launch (our calculation).

A whole crewed mission takes much longer, including the time on Mars and the trip back. NASA says astronauts "bound for Mars would be leaving our planet for roughly three years". No human has been to Mars yet.

Mars distance FAQ

How far away is Mars from Earth now? On 11 October 2026 about 238.6 million km (148.2 million miles); the table above lists the distance for each month until December 2027. On 20 February 2027 it is 101.4 million km.

How far is Mars from Earth in light years? A tiny fraction of a light year: 0.000025 light years on 11 October 2026, or 13.3 light minutes. Light minutes are a handier unit for Mars.

How long would it take to get to Mars? NASA's Perseverance rover took 203 days, about seven months. NASA says a crewed mission would mean leaving Earth for roughly three years.

How long is one day on Mars? NASA says Mars rotates once every 24.6 hours. A solar day on Mars, from noon to noon, lasts 24 h 39 min 35 s, according to NASA JPL Horizons; it is called a sol. A Mars year lasts 687 Earth days.

Can humans actually go to Mars? No one has yet. NASA calls Mars its "horizon goal for human exploration" and says its Artemis Moon missions build its foundation "for the first crewed missions to Mars".

How much would a 150 lb person weigh on Mars? About 56.7 lb. Gravity at Mars' equator is 3.71 m/s² (NASA JPL Horizons), about 38% of Earth's standard 9.81 m/s², in our calculation. Your mass stays the same.

What is the opposition of Mars? The moment when Mars is opposite the Sun in our sky, with Earth roughly between the two. Mars then rises around sunset and is visible all night. The closest approach falls near opposition but not exactly on it: in 2027 it follows about eight hours later. The next opposition is on 19 February 2027, the one after that on 25 March 2029.

Which direction is Mars? That depends on where you are, the date and the time. From New York in October 2026, look east to southeast before dawn. Around opposition in February 2027, look east in the evening and west before sunrise; around midnight, look south from New York or London and north from Sydney. Our Tonight page gives the direction for your own location.

Is there a picture of the night sky from Mars? Yes. NASA's Curiosity rover photographed Earth as the brightest point in the Martian evening sky on 31 January 2014 (the photo above).

How far is Mars from the Sun? On average 228 million km (142 million miles), NASA says; sunlight takes 13 minutes to get there. Earth is about 150 million km from the Sun: see how far the Sun is from Earth.

How big is Mars compared with Earth? NASA: "With a radius of 2,106 miles (3,390 kilometers), Mars is about half the size of Earth." So Mars is about half as wide as Earth.

How we checked

All Earth-Mars distances, brightness values (magnitudes), apparent sizes and constellations come from NASA JPL Horizons: Mars as seen from Earth's centre, daily (00:00 UT) from 2003 to 2035, and hourly within three days of each daily closest-approach minimum from 2003 to 2035. We found the closest and farthest points in these tables ourselves and converted them to miles and light time (1 AU = 149,597,870.7 km; speed of light 299,792.458 km/s).

We checked the opposition times, Mars' closest and farthest points from the Sun and the orbit diagram with Astronomy Engine 2.1.19, which also gave the rise and set times (city-centre coordinates, sea level, flat horizon), the full moon time and the distances between Mars, Jupiter, Regulus and the Moon. The two sky views were made in Stellarium 26.3; the Tonight card is a screenshot of our own page.

Facts from NASA: the 2003 record (NASA Science, 2003), the average distance and communication delay (NASA's Human Research Program), Mars' orbit, day and size (NASA Mars facts), Perseverance's journey (NASA JPL) and the Artemis goals. The day length and gravity come from the physical data in NASA JPL Horizons. The photos are from NASA (public domain); the charts and diagrams are our own. None of the images is AI-generated.