In positional astronomy, two celestial bodies are said to be in opposition when they are on opposite sides of the sky, viewed from a given place (usually the Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

). In particular, two planet

Planet

A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...

s are in opposition to each other when their ecliptic longitudes differ by 180°.

The astronomical symbol for opposition is ☍ (Unicode

Unicode

Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...

 #x260d). Handwritten:

A planet (or asteroid

Asteroid

Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...

 or comet

Comet

A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...

) is said to be "in opposition" when it is in opposition to the Sun

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

, as seen from the Earth. When a planet is like this,

• it is visible almost all night, rising around sunset, culminating
  Culmination
  In astronomy, the culmination of a planet, star, constellation, etc. is the altitude reached when the object transits over an observer's meridian....
  
   around midnight and setting around sunrise;
• at this point of its orbit
  Orbit
  In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
  
   it is roughly closest to the Earth, making it appear bigger and brighter.
• the half of the planet visible from Earth is then completely illuminated ("full planet")
• the opposition effect increases the reflected light from bodies with unobscured rough surfaces.

Opposition occurs only in superior planets.

The Moon

Moon

The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

, which orbits the Earth rather than the Sun, is in opposition to the Sun at full moon

Full moon

Full moon lunar phase that occurs when the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun. More precisely, a full moon occurs when the geocentric apparent longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180 degrees; the Moon is then in opposition with the Sun.Lunar eclipses can only occur at...

. When it is exact in opposition, a lunar eclipse

Lunar eclipse

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes behind the Earth so that the Earth blocks the Sun's rays from striking the Moon. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can only occur the night of a...

 occurs.

Superior and inferior

As seen from a planet that is superior

Inferior and superior planets

The terms "inferior planet" and "superior planet" were originally used in the geocentric cosmology of Claudius Ptolemy to differentiate as 'inferior' those planets whose epicycle remained collinear with the Earth and Sun, compared to the 'superior' planets that did not.In the 16th century, the...

, if an inferior

Inferior and superior planets

The terms "inferior planet" and "superior planet" were originally used in the geocentric cosmology of Claudius Ptolemy to differentiate as 'inferior' those planets whose epicycle remained collinear with the Earth and Sun, compared to the 'superior' planets that did not.In the 16th century, the...

 planet is on the opposite side of the Sun, it is in superior conjunction with the Sun. An inferior conjunction occurs when the two planets lie in a line

Line (mathematics)

The notion of line or straight line was introduced by the ancient mathematicians to represent straight objects with negligible width and depth. Lines are an idealization of such objects...

 on the same side of the Sun

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

. In an inferior conjunction, the superior planet is "in opposition" to the Sun as seen from the inferior planet.

See also

• Astrometry
  Astrometry
  Astrometry is the branch of astronomy that involves precise measurements of the positions and movements of stars and other celestial bodies. The information obtained by astrometric measurements provides information on the kinematics and physical origin of our Solar System and our Galaxy, the Milky...
  
  
• Astronomical conjunction
• Astrological aspects
• Positional astronomy
• Syzygy
  Syzygy (astronomy)
  In astronomy, a syzygy is a straight line configuration of three celestial bodies in a gravitational system. The word is usually used in reference to the Sun, the Earth and either the Moon or a planet, where the latter is in conjunction or opposition. Solar and lunar eclipses occur at times of...