Mercury
Mercury is at greatest eastern (evening or "PM") or western (morning or "AM") elongation on the following dates:

2001
Jan 28  PM*
Mar 11  AM
May 22  PM*
Jul 9  AM
Sep 18  PM
Oct 29  AM*

2002
Jan 11  PM
Feb 21  AM
May 4  PM*
Jun 21  AM
Sep 1  PM
Oct 13  AM*
Dec 26  PM

2003
Feb 4  AM
Apr 16  PM*
Jun 3  AM
Aug 14  PM
Sep 26  AM*
Dec 9  PM

2004
Jan 17  AM
Mar 29  PM*
May 14  AM
Jul 27  PM
Sep 9  AM*
Nov 21  PM
Dec 29  AM*

2005
Mar 12  PM*
Apr 26  AM
Jul 9  PM
Aug 23  AM*
Nov 3  PM
Dec 12  AM*

2006
Feb 24  PM*
Apr 8  AM
Jun 20  PM*
Aug 7  AM*
Oct 17  PM
Nov 25  AM*

2007
Feb 7  PM*
Mar 22  AM
Jun 2  PM*
Jul 20  AM
Sep 29  PM
Nov 8  AM*

2008
Jan 22  PM
Mar 3  AM
May 14  PM*
Jul 1  AM
Sep 11  PM
Oct 22  AM*

2009
Jan 4  PM
Feb 13  AM
Apr 26  PM*
Jul 13  AM
Aug 24  PM
Oct 6  AM*
Dec 18  PM

2010
Jan 27  AM
Apr 8  PM*
May 26  AM
Aug 7  PM
Sep 19  AM*
Dec 1  PM

The more favorable elongations of Mercury (as seen from the northern hemisphere) are indicated with a *.
 

Venus
Venus is at greatest eastern (evening or "PM") or western (morning or "AM") elongation on the following dates:

2001 Jan 17  PM
2001 Jun 8  AM
2002 Aug 22  PM
2003 Jan 11  AM
2004 Mar 29  PM
2004 Aug 17  AM
2005 Nov 3  PM
2006 Mar 25  AM
2007 Jun 9  PM
2007 Oct 28  AM
2008  none
2009 Jan 14  PM
2009 Jun 5  AM
2010 Aug 20  PM
2011 Jan 8  AM
2012 Mar 27  PM
2012 Aug 15  AM
2013 Nov 1  PM
2014 Mar 22  AM
2015 Jun 6  PM
 

Mars
Mars opposition date - (the date that Mars is closest to Earth) - Earth-Mars distance in millions of kilometers - size of Mars in arc-seconds

2001 Jun 13  (Jun 21)  67.3 mk  20.8"
2003 Aug 28  (Aug 27)  55.8 mk  25.1"
2005 Nov 7  (Oct 30)  69.4 mk  20.2"
2007 Dec 24  (Dec 18)  88.2 mk  15.9"
2010 Jan 29  (Jan 27)  99.3 mk  14.1"
2012 Mar 3  (Mar 5)  100.7 mk  13.9"
2014 Apr 8  (Apr 14)  92.4 mk  15.2"
2016 May 22  (May 30)  75.3 mk  18.6"
2018 Jul 27  (Jul 31)  57.6 mk  24.3"
2020 Oct 13  (Oct 6)  62.1 mk  22.6"
2022 Dec 8  (Dec 1)  81.5 mk  17.2"
2025 Jan 16  (Jan 12)   96.1 mk  14.6"
2027 Feb 19  (Feb 20)  101.4 mk  13.8"
2029 Mar 25  (Mar 29)  96.8 mk  14.5"
2031 May 4  (May 12)  82.8 mk  16.9"

Mars oppositions occur every two years and seven weeks (779.9 days), or 7 times every 15 years.
 

Jupiter
Jupiter is at opposition on the following dates and fractional dates (UT):

2001 none
2002  Jan 1  .2
2003 Feb 2  .4
2004 Mar 4  .2
2005 Apr 3  .6
2006 May 4  .6
2007 Jun 6  .0
2008 Jul 9  .3
2009 Aug 14  .7
2010 Sep 21  .5
2011 Oct 29  .1
2012 Dec 3  .1
2013  none
2014 Jan 5  .9
2015 Feb 6  .8
2016 Mar 8  .4
2017 Apr 7  .9
2018 May 9  .0
2019 Jun 10  .6
2020 Jul 14  .3
2021 Aug 20  .0
2022 Sep 26  .8
2023 Nov 3  .2
2024 Dec 7  .9
2025  none
2026 Jan 10  .4
2027 Feb 11  .0
2028 Mar 12  .6
2029 Apr 12  .2
2030 May 13  .5

Jupiter oppositions repeat after one year and one month (398.9 days). There are 11 oppositions every 12 years.
 

Saturn
Saturn is at opposition on the following dates and fractional dates (UT):

2001 Dec 3  .6
2002 Dec 17  .7
2003 Dec 31  .9
2004  none
2005 Jan 14  .0
2006 Jan 27  .9
2007 Feb 10  .8
2008 Feb 24  .4
2009 Mar 8  .8
2010 Mar 22  .0
2011 Apr 4  .0
2012 Apr 15  .8
2013 Apr 28  .3
2014 May 10  .8
2015 May 23  .1
2016 Jun 3  .3
2017 Jun 15  .4
2018 Jun 27  .6
2019 Jul 9  .7
2020 Jul 20  .9
2021 Aug 2  .3
2022 Aug 14  .7
2023 Aug 27  .3
2024 Sep 8  .2
2025 Sep 21  .2
2026 Oct 4  .5
2027 Oct 18  .0
2028 Oct 30  .7
2029 Nov 13  .6
2030 Nov 27  .7

Saturn oppositions occur every one year and two weeks (378.1 days), or 29 times every 30 years.
 

Uranus
Uranus is at opposition each year. However, since the dates change very gradually, the following lists the dates every fifth year:

2000 Aug 10
2005 Aug 31
2010 Sep 21
2015 Oct 11
2020 Oct 31
2025 Nov 21
2030 Dec 12
 

Neptune
Neptune is at opposition each year. However, since the dates change very gradually, the following lists the dates every fifth year:

2000 Jul 27
2005 Aug 8
2010 Aug 20
2015 Aug 31
2020 Sep 11
2025 Sep 23
2030 Oct 4
 

Pluto
Pluto is at opposition each year. However, since the dates change very gradually, the following lists the dates every tenth year:

2000 Jun 1
2010 Jun 25
2020 Jul 15
2030 Aug 2
 

Values listed on this page were obtained from Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets by Jean Meeus; Willmann-Bell, Inc. 1995 and What's Out Tonight by Ken Graun; Ken Press 2001.
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This page last updated May 2, 2004