How far is Mars from the Sun?

Today, 10 October 2026, Mars is 234,805,974 km from the Sun — 0.235 billion kilometres, or 1.570 astronomical units. That figure changes constantly: the orbit is an ellipse, so Mars is closer at one end than the other.

What is Mars's average distance from the Sun?

1.524 AU — 0.228 billion km. This is the semi-major axis, which is the number most references quote as "the" distance. It is an average, and Mars is actually at it only twice per orbit.

What are Mars's closest and furthest distances?

Closest (perihelion) 1.381 AU or 0.207 billion km, next on 11 February 2028. Furthest (aphelion) 1.666 AU or 0.249 billion km, next on 4 March 2027. The difference between them is 42,624,337 km.

How long does sunlight take to reach Mars?

13.1 minutes at today's distance. Light from the Sun reaches Earth in about 8 minutes 20 seconds, so sunlight arrives at Mars roughly 1.6 times later than it reaches us.

Mars

Mars's distance from the Sun

Not the average everyone quotes — the figure for today, and the two extremes it swings between.

Right now

0.235 billion km

234,805,974 km · 1.570 AU · sunlight takes 13.1 minutes to get there

Computed 10 October 2026 and rebuilt through the day.

Closest to the Sun: 1.381 AU; 0.207 bn km · 11 February 2028
Furthest from the Sun: 1.666 AU; 0.249 bn km · 4 March 2027
Average: 1.524 AU; the figure most tables give
Orbital speed: 23.41 km/s; right now, from the ephemeris

Why there is no single answer

Mars’s orbit is an ellipse with the Sun at one focus rather than at the centre, so the distance changes continuously. Over one orbit it swings by 42,624,337 km — aphelion is 1.21 times further out than perihelion. At 0.0935 the orbit is noticeably off-centre: Mars is measurably closer to the Sun at one end of it than the other.

That is why the number in an encyclopedia and the number here differ. Theirs is the semi-major axis, an average over the whole orbit; this one is where Mars is today. Both are correct, and they answer different questions.

Looking down on the plane of the ecliptic, traced from the ephemeris over one full orbit of 687 days. Earth’s orbit is the faint one, for scale. The Sun sits off the centre of the ellipse — that offset is the eccentricity, and it is why the two distances differ.

Where it is heading

Mars reaches aphelion — its furthest point from the Sun — on 4 March 2027, in 5 months, at 1.666 AU. It is currently 66% of the way from perihelion to aphelion, moving at 23.41 km/s.

Distance from Earth is a different question again, and a more variable one: today it is 1.600 AU, and it changes as both planets move. Mars right now carries that figure.

Common questions

How far is Mars from the Sun?: Today, 10 October 2026, Mars is 234,805,974 km from the Sun — 0.235 billion kilometres, or 1.570 astronomical units. That figure changes constantly: the orbit is an ellipse, so Mars is closer at one end than the other.
What is Mars's average distance from the Sun?: 1.524 AU — 0.228 billion km. This is the semi-major axis, which is the number most references quote as "the" distance. It is an average, and Mars is actually at it only twice per orbit.
What are Mars's closest and furthest distances?: Closest (perihelion) 1.381 AU or 0.207 billion km, next on 11 February 2028. Furthest (aphelion) 1.666 AU or 0.249 billion km, next on 4 March 2027. The difference between them is 42,624,337 km.
How long does sunlight take to reach Mars?: 13.1 minutes at today's distance. Light from the Sun reaches Earth in about 8 minutes 20 seconds, so sunlight arrives at Mars roughly 1.6 times later than it reaches us.

Positions from VSOP87 via Astronomy Engine, accurate to within one arcminute. Perihelion and aphelion are found by search rather than taken from a table, which is why the dates are exact and why the extremes differ slightly from one orbit to the next — the other planets pull on this one. See Mars’s orbit, Mars right now, or watch it move in the live simulation.