# Is Mars ever further away than Jupiter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 3, 2012, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680 "2012-03-03T22:20:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680/1 "2012-03-03T22:20:20Z")
Given that planets orbit the sun at different speeds, presumably there are times when Mars is diametrically opposed to Earth way on the other side of the Sun, while Jupiter is way on this side? And Pluto’s orbit comes inside Neptune’s at times. What’s the Straight Dope on straight line distances to planets? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680/2 "2012-03-03T22:24:50Z")
[Mars furthest distance from Earth - 401 million km](http://www.universetoday.com/14824/distance-from-earth-to-mars/) [Jupiter’s closest - 628 million km](http://www.universetoday.com/14514/how-far-is-jupiter-from-earth/) So no. But of course the distances between Earth and other planets, or between two other planets, differs based on their relative positions to the sun. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680/3 "2012-03-03T22:31:29Z")
Mars is 1.52 AU from the Sun, and Jupiter is 5.20 AU (Earth, of course, is 1 AU). It’s a pretty good approximation to say that all three orbits are circles and all in the same plane, so when Mars is most distant from us, it’s 2.52 AU away from us, and when Jupiter is closest to us, it’s 4.20 AU away. So no, there’s never a time when Jupiter is closer than Mars. And as you go to the rest of the outer planets, the distances between them get even larger, so the 2 AU difference you can get from the Earth’s position around the Sun just gets less and less significant. For the inner planets, it is possible for Mercury or Venus to be closer than Mars, or for Mercury to be closer than Venus. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680/4 "2012-03-03T22:37:04Z")
For Jupiter, from [here:](http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/jupiterfact.html) > [@](#): > > Distance from Earth > Minimum (106 km) 588.5 > Maximum (106 km) 968.1 For [Mars](http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/marsfact.html): > [@](#): > > Distance from Earth > Minimum (106 km) 55.7 > Maximum (106 km) 401.3 So, no. Jupiter is always at least 187 million km further from Earth than Mars. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2012, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680/5 "2012-03-03T23:21:12Z")
I’m gonna take the contrary position and say yes. I can’t prove it, it’s just a feeling I have. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680/6 "2012-03-04T02:09:35Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I’m gonna take the contrary position and say yes. I can’t prove it, it’s just a feeling I have. Don’t make me move this thread to IMHO! ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680/7 "2012-03-04T02:24:39Z")
Thanks, guys! Exactly the info I was after! ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680/8 "2012-03-04T04:45:11Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I’m gonna take the contrary position and say yes. I can’t prove it, it’s just a feeling I have. I’m glad nobody asked about Uranus. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680/9 "2012-03-04T05:06:35Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > I’m glad nobody asked about Uranus. Or the Klingons. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680/10 "2012-03-04T05:36:09Z")
Yes, I have very strong, almost irresistible feelings about Uranus. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680/11 "2012-03-04T06:31:27Z")
For the record, there’s no overlap between the outer planets. Jupiter - range to Earth is 588.5 to 968.1 million kilometers Saturn - range to Earth is 1195.5 to 1658.5 million kilometers Uranus - range to Earth is 2581.9 to 3157.3 million kilometers Neptune - range to Earth is 4305.9 to 4687.3 million kilometers Pluto is the exception (although it’s no longer classified as a planet). Its range from Earth is 4284.7 to 7528.0 million kilometers so it sometimes is closer to Earth than Neptune is. And a little added perspective. It took the Apollo spacecraft three days to travel the 378,000 kilometers to the Moon. At that speed it would take Apollo 442 days to reach Mars (at its closest approach); 1167 days to reach the Sun; 4671 days (12.8 years) to reach Jupiter; 9488 (26.0 years) days to reach Saturn; 29491 days (80.7 years) to reach Uranus; and 34174 days (93.6 years) to reach Neptune. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680/12 "2012-03-04T17:57:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Pluto is the exception (although it’s no longer classified as a planet). Its range from Earth is 4284.7 to 7528.0 million kilometers so it sometimes is closer to Earth than Neptune is. And that’s not due to Earth’s orbit, but due to Pluto’s orbit being highly eccentric (by planetary standards, at least). ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680/13 "2012-03-04T18:59:27Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Yes, I have very strong, almost irresistible feelings about Uranus. I expect that someday we will be forced to change the name of that planet. _Professor Farnsworth is demonstrating his latest astronomical invention, the Smell-O-Scope:_ Stephen Fry: “Hey, as long as you don’t make me smell Uranus!” (laughs) Leela: “I don’t get it.” Professor Farnsworth: “I’m sorry, Fry, but astronomers renamed Uranus in 2620 to end that stupid joke once and for all.” Stephen Fry: “Oh. What’s it called now?” Professor Farnsworth: "Urectum. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680/14 "2012-03-04T20:10:26Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > I’m glad nobody asked about Uranus. That’s where he pulled his “feeling” from. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680/15 "2012-03-04T20:49:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Mars is 1.52 AU from the Sun, and Jupiter is 5.20 AU (Earth, of course, is 1 AU). It’s a pretty good approximation to say that all three orbits are circles and all in the same plane, [SNIP] Out of wonder, why are they all in the same plane? Fluke? Some force that makes the plane of our solar system more “natural” that, say, on an orthogonal plane? Why don’t we have the planets all orbiting on completely different planes (albeit in the same sized curve)? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680/16 "2012-03-04T20:50:03Z")
As a minor additional note, there is effectively another “planet” between Mars and Jupiter, or at least there might be if the asteroid belt had been able to accrete into one. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680/17 "2012-03-04T21:02:29Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Out of wonder, why are they all in the same plane? Fluke? Some force that makes the plane of our solar system more “natural” that, say, on an orthogonal plane? Why don’t we have the planets all orbiting on completely different planes (albeit in the same sized curve)? Same reason as when you spin a lump of dough to make a pizza, you get a flat disc. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680/18 "2012-03-04T21:06:11Z")
> [@](#): > > As a minor additional note, there is effectively another “planet” between Mars and Jupiter, or at least there might be if the asteroid belt had been able to accrete into one. Well, by some definitions (not including the official one the IAU uses), Ceres (the largest of the asteroids) would qualify as a planet by itself. But even if you lumped all of the asteroids in the belt together into one single mass, it’d still be puny compared to the rest of the planets. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680/19 "2012-03-04T21:08:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > For the inner planets, it is possible for Mercury or Venus to be closer than Mars, or for Mercury to be closer than Venus. Well, yeah. You don’t even need to know any numbers or positions to prove that. If a planet is behind the sun, then _any_ smaller numbered planets would have to be closer to us. If I’m in the front yard and you’re in the back yard, then everything in the house is closer to me than you are, no matter what room it’s in. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680/20 "2012-03-05T04:50:46Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > As a minor additional note, there is effectively another “planet” between Mars and Jupiter, or at least there might be if the asteroid belt had been able to accrete into one. Well, [probably not](http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/skyblog/newsblog/105108519.html) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mars-ever-further-away-than-jupiter/614680.md?page=2)