The planet Uranus will reached Solar Conjunction (i.e. be directly on
the other side of the
Sun from the Earth) on Thursday 27 July 2017. This
means that it will both be at its furthest from the Earth this year,
about 2.5 AU (2.5 times the average distance between the Earth and
the
Sun, or about 374 000 000 km), and completely obscured by the Sun.
The relative positions of Uranus, the Sun and Earth at Solar Conjunction. NASA.
Mars orbits the Sun at an average distance of 1.5 AU, completing one
orbit around the Sun every 1.88 years. The planet is now home to numerous man-made instruments, all of which receive regular instructions from Earth. The two planets reach Solar Conjunction roughly once every two years, during which time all of these instruments are cut off from Earth for two weeks, with the majority simply being shut down.
See also...
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