UPSC Articles
Opposition Phenomenon (Mars)
Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Space
In news
- Recently, Mars became the third brightest object (moon and Venus are first and second, respectively) outshining Jupiter in the night sky.
- This event is referred to as “opposition”.
- It takes place every two years and two months.
Important value additions
Opposition
- It is the event when the sun, Earth and an outer planet are lined up, with the Earth in the middle.
- The time of opposition is the point when the outer planet is typically also at its closest distance to the Earth for a given year.
- Since it is close, the planet appears brighter in the sky.
