Question 1

How far is Mars from Earth right now?

Accepted Answer

Right now Mars is about 260.2 million km (1.739 AU) from Earth — roughly 14.5 light-minutes away at the speed of light. This distance changes constantly as both planets orbit the Sun (from about 55 to 400 million km).

Question 2

Why do planet distances keep changing?

Accepted Answer

Every planet orbits the Sun at a different speed and distance, so the gap between Earth and another planet is always changing. Planets are closest at "opposition" (when Earth is between the planet and the Sun) and farthest at "conjunction".

Question 3

What is an AU (astronomical unit)?

Accepted Answer

One astronomical unit (AU) is the average distance from Earth to the Sun — about 149.6 million km. Distances across the Solar System are often given in AU.

Body	Distance (km)	AU	Light-time
🌙 The Moon	0.40M	0.003	1 light-seconds
☿️ Mercury	194.01M	1.297	10.8 light-minutes
♀️ Venus	62.38M	0.417	3.5 light-minutes
🔴 Mars	260.19M	1.739	14.5 light-minutes
🟠 Jupiter	903.82M	6.042	50.2 light-minutes
🪐 Saturn	1266.74M	8.468	70.4 light-minutes
🔵 Uranus	2851.10M	19.058	2.6 light-hours
🔷 Neptune	4320.51M	28.881	4.0 light-hours