Finally, the opposition is the most strong astrological aspect of all. This occurs when two planets are 180 degrees apart and exactly across the sky from one another. This means they’ll be separated by six zodiac signs that share a trait, such as Cardinal, Fixed, or Mutable, for the second time. They’ll also be in elements that are complementary to each other, such as fire and air or earth and water. Zodiac polarities are another name for oppositions. While oppositions allow us to unite and compromise, perfectly balancing the energy like a yin and yang, they may also result in high drama, conflict, and power conflicts. Obstacles may arise, but opposition teaches us that in order to endure, we must modify or compromise in order to move forward.
In This Article...
In astrology, what does an opposition mean?
It’s certainly something to be proud of if you have an opposition in your natal chart. This implies that you have two very different energies within your personality, which is often a highly empowering and encouraging element. However, before it can dominate you, you must learn to control it. An internal battle might manifest as an opposition, which can lead to contradictory conduct. It’s possible that you act one way while feeling another. Perhaps you’re divided between two opposing instincts. If you can find a balance in your birth chart between these polar opposing planets, you’ll discover that this opposition really provides you a very deep and comprehensive insight.
When two planets in your birth chart are in opposition, it signifies they never let each other rest. It indicates that they are unwilling to quit seeing you develop.
When planets are in opposition, what does it mean?
The Sun is the center of the Solar System, and all of the planets revolve around it. The Earth passes directly between the Sun and another planet at specific periods throughout their orbits. This is when the planet is considered to be ‘in opposition.’
Earth is between the Sun and Saturn when Saturn is in opposition, for example. Saturn lies on the ‘opposite’ side of the sky to the Sun from our vantage point on Earth: when the Sun sets in the west, Saturn rises in the east.
What does astrological opposition signify in terms of compatibility?
What is the Opposition’s position? When planets are opposite each other on the Zodiac wheel, they are said to be in opposition. Because the energies are at opposition, it’s a difficult or “hard” aspect. The pairing is known as polarity since they are 180 degrees apart.
In terms of attraction, what does opposition imply?
People who are quite different from one other are typically drawn to each other, according to the definition of opposites attract.
What are the symptoms of opposition?
The opposite sign duos are Aries and Libra, Taurus and Scorpio, Gemini and Sagittarius, Cancer and Capricorn, Leo and Aquarius, and Virgo and Pisces, in case you didn’t know.
Are Aries and Pisces diametrically opposed?
Both Aries and Pisces are gregarious beings who enjoy trying new things and are highly compatible in terms of sociability and interests. Aries place a high priority on honesty, whilst Pisces place a greater emphasis on trust. Both are passionate romantic partners, but Pisces is more committed, whilst Aries may struggle with commitment. While they both value intelligence, they frequently demonstrate it in different ways. For Honesty, Trust, Intellect, and Romance, they have medium compatibility ratings. Aries can be brutally honest, whereas Pisces is overly concerned with other people’s feelings, resulting in a low Communication score. Aries can be abrasive in disagreements, whereas Pisces is more likely to cry, resulting in a low Conflict score. Overall, the compatibility of Pisces and Aries is average.
What is the meaning of Mars’ opposition?
Mars and the sun are on opposing sides of the Earth during opposition. Mars rises in the east just as the sun sets in the west, as seen from our spinning earth. Then, after spending the entire night in the sky, Mars sets in the west at the same time that the sun rises in the east. Mars is said to be in “opposition” because it appears on the opposite side of the sky from the sun. Opposition would be the closest the two planets could get if their orbits were perfectly circular.
Of course, nothing about space motion is so straightforward! Our orbits are actually elliptical (oval-shaped), with one end of our orbits being slightly closer to the sun than the other.
When Can Opposition Occur?
Mars opposes the Sun every 26 months or so. Within a few weeks of Mars’ perihelion, opposition happens every 15 or 17 years (the point in its orbit when it is closest to the sun). Mars opposes the Sun this year on Oct. 13, 2020.
Anywhere throughout Mars’ orbit, an opposition can occur. Mars comes extremely near to Earth when it occurs when it is closest to the sun (known as “perihelic opposition”). Each perihelic opposition would put Earth and Mars as near as they could be if their orbits were entirely stable. That’s pretty much how it is.
What does it signify when Jupiter is in opposition?
You may have heard that the optimum time to watch a planet is when it is in opposition. But, exactly, what is opposition? And which planets are in opposition to each other? Opposition in astronomy refers to a planet’s position in relation to the sun. As a result, planets having orbits within Earth’s orbit (Mercury and Venus, for example) cannot be in opposition. The planets that orbit outside of Earth’s orbit, on the other hand, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are all capable of doing so. In our smaller, faster orbit, we pass between them and the sun once a year. Jupiter is in opposition if the sun is setting in the west and Jupiter is rising in the east. Because the Earth is traveling between the sun and Jupiter, it will take all night for it to cross our sky. A planet is easiest to observe when it is in opposition because it is nearest to Earth and visible all night.
Take a look at the illustration above. The sun is in the diagram’s center. Earth is a long way away, Jupiter is even further away, and Saturn is still further away. The planets are travelling counterclockwise around the sun as seen from above our solar system. Now imagine that you’re running this diagram forward in your head. Earth travels quicker than Jupiter because it is in an inner orbit. Jupiter, on the other hand, travels quicker than Saturn. As seen from above the solar system, the planets will be in a variety of configurations. However, Earth will travel between Jupiter and the sun, or Saturn and the sun, roughly every earthly year. This is an example of opposition.
By the way, Jupiter and Saturn will be in approximately the same line of sight from Earth in August 2021. As a result, we see them in our sky close together. At the end of 2020, these worlds will come together for a once-in-a-century big conjunction. As observed from Earth last year, they were fairly close together. Jupiter will overtake Saturn in orbit and in our sky in the coming years.
An opposition as seen from Earth
The sun is at one end of our sky, and the opposition planet is in the opposite direction, when Earth is in the midst of a line between an outer planet and the sun. It’s as if you’re standing in the supermarket between two buddies, and you have to turn your head halfway around to see one and then the other. The sun lies on the other side of the sky from the outer planet when it is in opposition; when the sun sets in the west, the planet rises in the east. As the planet sinks under the horizon, the sun rises above it in the other direction.
To be technical, an outer planet’s opposition occurs when the sun and that planet are 180 degrees apart in the sky. The word comes from a Latin root that means “to put against.”
Consider the fact that, as seen from Earth, Venus and Mercury can never be in opposition. Because their orbits are closer to the sun than Earth’s, they can never appear in our sky opposite the sun. When the sun sets in the west, for example, you will never see Venus in the east. From our perspective, these inner planets always stay close to the sun, no more than 47 degrees for Venus and 28 degrees for Mercury.
Only objects that are further from the sun than Earth can form oppositions. Every year, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune form oppositions. They occur as Earth travels between these distant worlds and the sun in its much quicker orbit. We also witness oppositions of the planet Mars, but they only happen every 27 months or so since Earth and Mars are so near in their orbits around the sun. Their orbits and orbital speeds are more similar.
Dates of upcoming oppositions
Because everything in space moves, planets farther from the sun collide with each other on a regular basis. When it comes to the bright planets, the next opposition is never far off:
On October 13, 2020, Mars was in opposition, and it will be again on December 8, 2022.
On August 19, 2021, Jupiter was in opposition, and it will be again on September 26, 2022.
On August 1-2, 2021, Saturn was in opposition, and it will be again on August 14, 2022.
On November 4-5, 2021, Uranus will be in opposition, followed by November 9, 2022.
On September 14, 2021, Neptune will be in opposition, followed by September 16, 2022.
Each year, Jupiter’s oppositions occur roughly a month later. Each year, Saturn’s return is around two weeks later. Year after year, the opposition dates of Uranus and Neptune are only a few days apart.
Why are planets at opposition so interesting to sky-watchers?
Planets in opposition rise as the sun sets and can be found somewhere in the sky throughout the night because they are opposite the sun.
Second, planets in opposition are approaching their closest point in orbit to Earth. The actual closest point may differ by a day or two due to the non-circular shape of planetary orbits, as it was for Jupiter in 2020. Jupiter’s opposition occurred on July 14, 2020, while its closest approach occurred on July 15. Nonetheless, for several weeks around opposition (the moment when we pass between an outer planet and the sun), the outer planet is normally closest to Earth. The planet shines brightest at this time, and greater detail can be seen through telescopes.
And here’s something else to think about when it comes to resistance. We view the fully lighted daytime side of the far-off planet since the sun and outer planet are completely opposite each other in the Earth’s sky. Planets that are entirely illuminated appear brighter to us than planets that are partially illuminated. If you’re thinking to yourself, “This sounds a lot like the moon,” you’re absolutely correct! What is a full moon if it isn’t the moon at opposition? The moon is completely opposite the sun in the sky during its full phase, fully lit and at its brightest during that orbit. The sun-Earth-moon line bends as it progresses through the rest of its orbit, giving us what we view as the moon’s phases from Earth.
Oppositions from other planets
Opposition is all about point of view, just like so much else in life. We’ve been discussing the Earth’s perspective. What if we reverse the situation?
When an outer planet, like as Jupiter, is at opposition for us, Earth is in inferior conjunction from that planet’s perspective. In other words, observers on Jupiter would see Earth passing between their world and the sun at the time of opposition for us on Earth. Except for trained observers using special equipment, the Earth and the sun would be on the same side of Jupiter’s sky, with the Earth concealed in the sun’s glare.
Consider that the line between the sun and Jupiter travels directly through the Earth, implying that the Earth is directly between the sun and Jupiter. A visitor to Jupiter may one day observe Earth transit the sun as seen from Jupiter. That is, from half a billion miles away, they will watch Earth’s darker nighttime side, as well as all of humanity, traverse the face of the sun.
In conclusion, the best moment to observe a planet is when it is in opposition. Earth crosses between an outer planet and the sun during opposition, placing the planet opposite the sun in our sky. In its orbit, a planet in opposition is closest to Earth and brightest. It rises as the sun sets and is visible throughout the night.
When Mars is in opposition, what does that mean?
A by-definition “When the Earth passes between the Sun and Mars, it is called a Mars opposition. The word alludes to how Mars and the Sun appear to be on different sides of the sky. Mars oppositions happen every 2 years and 2 months779.94 Earth days, to be precise, according to their orbits. Mars appears to rise in the east exactly as the Sun sets in the west from our vantage point on Earth.
Mars sets in the west just as the Sun begins to rise in the east after spending the entire night in the sky.
Mars becomes one of the brightest objects in the night sky during an opposition, and is easily visible with the naked eye. It will appear as a huge and brilliant object via modest telescopes. The surface features of Mars, including as its polar ice caps, will be visible via larger telescopes.
Anywhere throughout Mars’ orbit, an opposition can occur. Opposition, on the other hand, does not always imply that the two planets are at their closest overall. In reality, it just indicates that they are at their closest point inside their present orbital cycle. When Earth and Mars are in opposition, their orbits are exactly circular, and they are closest to each other.
Instead, their orbits are elliptical, with Mars’ orbit being more elliptical than Earth’s, implying a greater difference in perihelion and aphelion. Other planets’ gravitational tugs constantly change the shape of our orbits, with Jupiter tugging on Mars and Venus, and Mercury tugging on Earth.
Finally, the Earth and Mars do not orbit the Sun in the same plane, therefore their orbits are slightly inclined in relation to one another. As a result, Mars and Earth are only able to approach each other over a long period of time. Every 15 or 17 years, for example, an opposition occurs within a few weeks of Mars’ perihelion. When it occurs when Mars is closest to the sun (a phenomenon known as “mars closest approach”), it is referred to as “mars closest approach “Mars and Earth get particularly near during perihelic opposition.
Despite this, the closest approaches between the two planets take centuries, and some approaches are always closer than others. To make matters even more perplexing, Mars’ orbit has become increasingly elongated throughout the ages, bringing the planet closer to the Sun during perihelion and further away at aphelion. As a result, perihelic oppositions in the future will push Earth and Mars even closer together.
Earth and Mars were only 55,758,118 km (34,646,488 mi; 0.37272 AU) apart on August 28th, 2003, according to astronomers. The two planets had not come this close to each other in about 60,000 years. This record will hold until August 28th, 2287, when the planets will be 55,688,405 kilometers (34,603,170.6 miles; 0.372254 AU) apart.