# Where are the planets right now?

> Every planet's distance from Earth, live from NASA JPL data. How long their light takes to reach us, and how to find each one in the sky.

HTML: https://www.theuniversecounts.com/solar-system/planets/where-are-the-planets

Numbers as of 2026-10-31 03:43 UTC. Live ones keep changing on the HTML page.

Right now Mercury is 103 million kilometres from Earth, Venus 41.6 million, Mars 215 million, Jupiter 825 million and Saturn 1.3 billion. Farther out, Uranus is 2.8 billion away, and Neptune, the most distant planet, 4.3 billion.

Every one of those numbers is changing as you read, because every planet, ours included, is moving round the Sun. They are worked out live from NASA JPL's orbit data, from the centre of Earth to the centre of each planet.

- Mercury's distance from Earth: 102,976,795 km
- Venus's distance from Earth: 41,621,133 km
- Mars's distance from Earth: 215,334,366 km
- Jupiter's distance from Earth: 824,646,696 km

## Eight worlds round one star

The planets are the eight large worlds that circle the Sun. The four nearest it, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, are small, with solid, rocky surfaces. The four beyond them are giants. Jupiter and Saturn are gas giants, Uranus and Neptune ice giants, and none of them has a hard surface to stand on.

They are spread over a huge distance. Earth circles about 150 million kilometres from the Sun, and astronomers use that distance as a measuring stick, the astronomical unit. Neptune is about 30 times as far out. Even sunlight needs 4.2 hours to get there.

Smaller still are the dwarf planets: Pluto, out beyond Neptune, and Ceres, in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Both are round and circle the Sun. But in 2006 the International Astronomical Union decided that a planet must also have cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit. These two share theirs with many other bodies.

## Why the distances never stand still

Every planet circles the Sun at its own pace, and the nearer the Sun, the faster it goes. Mercury moves at 47.36 kilometres per second and races round in about 88 days. Neptune moves at 5.45 kilometres per second and needs 165 Earth years for one lap. Only in 2011 did it finish its first lap since it was found in 1846.

Earth is moving too. Since you opened this page, it has carried you [counts up live on the page] kilometres round the Sun. So the gap to every other planet keeps opening and closing. When Earth overtakes an outer planet, or an inner planet overtakes Earth, the two come close. When they are on opposite sides of the Sun, the gap is widest.

For the far planets the swing is small next to the distance. Between 1900 and 2100, Neptune's farthest is only about 1.1 times its closest. For our neighbours it is huge. Venus can come within 38.2 million kilometres, then swing out to 261 million, about 6.8 times as far. Mars swings between 54.6 million and 401 million kilometres.

## Light from the planets

A planet doesn't make its own light. It shines with sunlight it reflects, and that light takes time to cross the gap to us. Today it needs 12 minutes to reach us from Mars, 46 minutes from Jupiter and 4 hours from Neptune. The wait changes with the distance. From Venus it runs from 2.1 minutes at its closest to 15 minutes at its farthest.

Radio waves are a kind of light too. A message to a spacecraft out there waits just as long, and an answer needs as long again to come back.

So you never see a planet as it is. You see it as it was when that light set out. Light that leaves Neptune as you sit down to breakfast reaches Earth around lunchtime.

## Where to look tonight

The planets all travel close to one flat plane, the one Earth's orbit makes. They formed from the flat, spinning disc round the young Sun, and they still move in nearly the same plane. So from here they follow nearly the same path across the sky as the Sun and the Moon. Astronomers call that path the ecliptic.

A planet east of the Sun in our sky sets after it, so it shines in the evening. A planet west of the Sun rises before it, in the morning sky. An outer planet opposite the Sun rises as the Sun sets and is up all night. And a planet close to the Sun in the sky is lost in its glare. Mercury and Venus never stray far from the Sun, so we only see them in twilight, after sunset or before sunrise.

Five planets can be seen without a telescope: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus is only just visible to sharp eyes under a dark sky, and only if you know exactly where to look. Neptune always needs a telescope. Each planet's page here says where it is in the sky right now.

## Do the planets ever line up?

In a way, they always do. Because they share one flat plane, the planets always appear along a line or a gentle arc across our sky. We look at that plane from inside it, edge-on, like one runner watching the others on a racetrack.

Every few years, four or five of the bright planets are up at the same time, strung along that path. People call this a planet parade, but it is not a term astronomers use. It isn't a single night either: the planets move slowly, so a parade lasts days or weeks, sometimes more. NASA lists one for late October 2028, with five planets before sunrise.

In space, the planets are not in a straight line during a parade. They are scattered round the Sun, at very different distances, in different directions. Only from where we stand do they seem to line up.

And a line-up does nothing to Earth. The planets are too far away for their pull to matter here. All of them together raise far smaller tides on Earth than the Moon or the Sun, wherever they are.

## FAQ

### Which planet is closest to Earth?

It depends on the day: the live distances at the top of this page show which one it is now. Venus comes closest of all, within 38.2 million kilometres. But averaged over time, Mercury is the nearest planet to us, at about 1.04 astronomical units against Venus's 1.14. Mercury never strays far from the Sun, so it is never very far from us either.

### What is the farthest planet from Earth?

Neptune. Right now it is 4.3 billion kilometres away, and its light takes 4 hours to reach us. Pluto is often farther still, but it is a dwarf planet.

### How long does light take to reach us from the planets?

From minutes to hours. When Venus is at its closest, its light needs only 2.1 minutes. Today light needs 12 minutes from Mars, 1.2 hours from Saturn and 4 hours from Neptune. Sunlight itself takes 499 seconds to reach us.

### Can I see the planets tonight?

On most nights, weather permitting, at least one. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn can all be seen without a telescope. Mercury and Venus only appear in twilight, after sunset or before sunrise. Look along the path the Sun takes across the sky. Each planet's page here says where it is right now.

### Do the planets ever line up?

They always appear along one line across our sky, because they orbit in nearly the same flat plane. Every few years four or five bright ones are up together, a so-called planet parade. In space they are not in a straight line, and a line-up has no effect on Earth.

## Related

- [Mercury](https://www.theuniversecounts.com/solar-system/planets/mercury.md)
- [Venus](https://www.theuniversecounts.com/solar-system/planets/venus.md)
- [Mars](https://www.theuniversecounts.com/solar-system/planets/mars.md)
- [Jupiter](https://www.theuniversecounts.com/solar-system/planets/jupiter.md)
- [Saturn](https://www.theuniversecounts.com/solar-system/planets/saturn.md)
- [Uranus](https://www.theuniversecounts.com/solar-system/planets/uranus.md)
- [Neptune](https://www.theuniversecounts.com/solar-system/planets/neptune.md)
- [Pluto](https://www.theuniversecounts.com/solar-system/planets/pluto.md)
- [Ceres](https://www.theuniversecounts.com/solar-system/planets/ceres.md)

Every light in that sky is a world on its own track, and you are riding one of them. Which one will you look for first?

## Sources

- Distance to Proxima Centauri (Measured, with error): [Astronomy & Astrophysics: Gaia Data Release 3: Summary of the content and survey properties (Gaia Collaboration, Vallenari et al. 2023)](https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202243940); [ESA: Gaia Data License](https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia-users/license)
- Earth's average distance from the Sun (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Earth Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/earthfact.html)
- Earth's average distance from the Sun in kilometres (Measured): [NASA: Earth: Facts](https://science.nasa.gov/earth/facts/)
- Earth's speed around the Sun (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Earth Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/earthfact.html)
- Jupiter's average distance from the Sun (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Jupiter Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/jupiterfact.html)
- Jupiter's distance from Earth (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Jupiter Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/jupiterfact.html)
- Largest distance between Earth and Neptune, 1900 to 2100 (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Neptune Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/neptunefact.html)
- Largest possible distance between Earth and Mars (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Mars Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/marsfact.html)
- Largest possible distance between Earth and Venus (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Venus Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/venusfact.html)
- Length of a solar day on Earth (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Earth Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/earthfact.html)
- Length of a year on Mercury (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Mercury Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/mercuryfact.html)
- Length of a year on Neptune (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Neptune Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/neptunefact.html)
- Mars's distance from Earth (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Mars Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/marsfact.html)
- Mercury's average distance from Earth, over time (Measured): [Physics Today (AIP): Venus is not Earth's closest neighbor (Stockman, Monroe & Cordner, 12 March 2019)](https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.6.3.20190312a)
- Mercury's average speed around the Sun (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Mercury Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/mercuryfact.html); [NASA Science: Mercury Facts](https://science.nasa.gov/mercury/facts/)
- Mercury's distance from Earth (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Mercury Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/mercuryfact.html)
- Neptune's average distance from the Sun (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Neptune Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/neptunefact.html)
- Neptune's average speed around the Sun (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Neptune Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/neptunefact.html)
- Neptune's distance from Earth (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Neptune Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/neptunefact.html)
- Saturn's distance from Earth (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Saturn Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/saturnfact.html)
- Smallest distance between Earth and Neptune, 1900 to 2100 (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Neptune Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/neptunefact.html)
- Smallest possible distance between Earth and Mars (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Mars Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/marsfact.html)
- Smallest possible distance between Earth and Venus (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Venus Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/venusfact.html)
- Speed of light in a vacuum (Measured): [BIPM: SI defining constants](https://www.bipm.org/en/measurement-units/si-defining-constants)
- The Moon's average distance from Earth (Measured): [NASA: Moon Facts](https://science.nasa.gov/moon/facts/)
- Time sunlight takes to reach Earth, at the mean Earth–Sun distance (1 au) (Measured): [International Astronomical Union (hosted by SYRTE, Observatoire de Paris): IAU 2012 Resolution B2 on the re-definition of the astronomical unit of length](https://syrte.obspm.fr/IAU_resolutions/Res_IAU2012_B2.pdf); [BIPM: SI defining constants](https://www.bipm.org/en/measurement-units/si-defining-constants); [NASA NSSDCA: Earth Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/earthfact.html)
- Typical cruising speed of a long-haul airliner (Estimated): [EUROCONTROL: Aircraft Performance Database: B789 (Boeing 787-9)](https://contentzone.eurocontrol.int/aircraftperformance/details.aspx?ICAO=B789); [EUROCONTROL: Aircraft Performance Database: A388 (Airbus A380-800)](https://contentzone.eurocontrol.int/aircraftperformance/details.aspx?ICAO=A388)
- Venus's average distance from Earth, over time (Measured): [Physics Today (AIP): Venus is not Earth's closest neighbor (Stockman, Monroe & Cordner, 12 March 2019)](https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.6.3.20190312a)
- Venus's distance from Earth (Measured): [NASA NSSDCA: Venus Fact Sheet](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/venusfact.html)
- Voyager 1's distance from the Sun (Measured): [NASA JPL: JPL Horizons API, Voyager 1 heliocentric vectors (geometric)](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/api/horizons.api?format=text&COMMAND='-31'&OBJ_DATA='NO'&MAKE_EPHEM='YES'&EPHEM_TYPE='VECTORS'&CENTER='500@10'&START_TIME='2026-10-18'&STOP_TIME='2026-10-19'&STEP_SIZE='1d'&VEC_TABLE='3'&VEC_CORR='NONE'&OUT_UNITS='KM-S'&TIME_TYPE='UT')
- Voyager 1's distance from the Sun when it crossed the heliopause (Measured): [American Geophysical Union: Voyager Observations of the Heliospheric Interface (AGU Fall Meeting 2014 abstract)](https://studio.m-anage.com/agu/fm14/webprogram/Paper4456.html); [NASA: Voyager Interstellar Mission](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/interstellar-mission/)