---
title: "Mars Was so Close This Week That You Can See Its Surface From Your Backyard"
description: "Mars was in opposition while passing near Earth this week, so space photographers had a field day with the rare occurrence."
date: "2020-10-15"
modified: "2020-10-15"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/mars-surface-backyard"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Mars"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "images"
  - "mars"
  - "opposition"
---

# Mars Was so Close This Week That You Can See Its Surface From Your Backyard

![Mars was in opposition while passing near Earth this week, so space photographers had a field day with the rare occurrence.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/mars-brightest-this-week-photos-spectacular.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Eric Kilby via NASA/JPL\</em\>*

Mars appeared at its absolute brightest on Tuesday night, due to a perfect planetary alignment that allowed it to reflect more sunlight towards Earth.

That's because Mars was in opposition, or on the exact opposite side of Earth from the Sun, *[The Washington Post ](<https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/10/13/mars-bright-opposition/>)*[reports](<https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/10/13/mars-bright-opposition/>). That, coupled with the fact that Mars happened to be particularly close to the earth in its orbit right now, made the planet so crisp that amateur astronomers with telescopes could take crisp photos of its surface right from their backyards.

https://twitter.com/NASAMars/status/1316057087185580038

Photographers documented the event well, like with [this time-lapse video](<https://www.reddit.com/r/Astronomy/comments/jbl85x/my_3_hour_timelapse_of_mars_at_opposition/>) shared on Reddit that shows the entire planet clearly rotating.

https://twitter.com/jackmullion/status/1316803680746852352

Mars is actually in opposition fairly frequently — about once every 26 months, [according to NASA](<https://mars.nasa.gov/all-about-mars/night-sky/opposition/>). But what's much less common is for opposition to line up with Mars and Earth passing close by to each other in their orbits. That only happens once every 15 to 17 years, making Tuesday night's occurrence a rare occasion.

https://twitter.com/BLOODYM4RIY/status/1316803143901106177

Mars actually made its closest approach to Earth a week earlier, on October 6, and it won't approach that close again until 2035, *WaPo* reports.

https://twitter.com/GP_O11/status/1316154242428698625

But in case you missed the show, Mars will once again pass near Earth on the first day of December 2022 and will go into opposition a week later, creating a repeat performance — albeit a less dazzling one — of Tuesday's show.

https://twitter.com/Dave_StarGeezer/status/1316035653973487618

**READ MORE:** [Mars to shine extra bright tonight, poised opposite the sun](<https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/10/13/mars-bright-opposition/>) \[*The Washington Post*\]

**More on Mars:** *[NASA Snaps Photo of Epic Dust Devil on the Surface of Mars](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-snaps-photo-epic-dust-devil-surface-mars>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)