<p>Here’s a suggestion from @notovny, who commented on a duplicate post of this question on the space exploration stack:</p>
<p>“Wolfram Alpha will basically give you that information with a natural language query.”</p>
<p>Indeed, this seems to work, here’s a screen shot from my iphone:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/62khK.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/62khK.png" alt="Wolfram Alpha natural language query" /></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-10T05:46:44.660Z
Unfortunately, Wolfram Alpha has accuracy problems.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-10T16:36:18.423Z
Add the time to the query and see if that makes it match Horizons better.
Greg Miller
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-12T16:40:09.377Z
Using “Mars distance from Earth on November 8, 2022 at 10:59 UTC”, Wolfram Alpha returns 0.5895 au. Same result as Horizons, to significant digits.
Bruce Simonson
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-10T05:45:49.220Z
2022-11-12T16:43:02.770Z
2022-11-12T16:43:02.770Z
Bruce Simonson
<p><a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/app.html#/" rel="noreferrer">JPL Horizons</a> makes this pretty easy.  It gives 0.58950405608881 AU, or 88188551.559899346096867 km, or 54797825.42445825 miles.</p>
<p>Though I believe the ephemeris used by Horizons is accurate to only about 1km, but it is the most accurate ephemeris publicly available.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-10T05:54:23.383Z
With a more precise search, I get 0.58769088079688 au, or 8.791730439702×10^7 km.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-10T06:03:34.640Z
Oops. I assumed 10:59:10 PM UTC. Using 10:59:10 AM UTC, I get 0.58950409839940 au from Horizons.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-10T20:10:08.120Z
Giving the answer precise to the picometer is maybe a little bit too "exact".
Helena
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-10T02:11:05.457Z
2022-11-10T02:11:05.457Z
Greg Miller
<p>I’m looking for the “exact” distance from the Earth to Mars, at the moment of the lunar eclipse maximum earlier this week (November 8, 2022). As many significant digits as you can muster.</p>
<p>Between the center of the Earth and the center of Mars would be fine, or similar.</p>
<p>Let’s say, at UTC, Nov 8 at 10:59:11.</p>
<p>Extra “points” if you provide information on how to find this distance with the date and time as a parameter.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>—— edit/update (responding to a comment, asking for the reason for this question)</p>
<p>After taking handheld iphone photos of the November 8, 2022 lunar eclipse from my porch, I was moved to caption one of the images that began to show a touch of the northern lights as the moon dimmed. (resolutions are reduced to allow upload)</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/xkJhm.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/xkJhm.jpg" alt="mars, pleiades, moon, and a touch of northern lights" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/gabeu.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/gabeu.jpg" alt="distances to a few favorites" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/87EXi.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/87EXi.jpg" alt="distance table" /></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-10T05:50:13.387Z
Presumably that's 10:59:11 PM, or 22:59:11 using a 24 hour clock.
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-10T05:59:59.627Z
November 8, 2022 10:59:11 UTC (AM). Sorry I wasn’t clear. In Alaska (AST), where I live, the time of the eclipse maximum was 1:59:11 AM on November 8.
Bruce Simonson
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-10T19:03:49.690Z
(can always help answerers enthusiasm and question interest to give a bit of insight on why you're looking for it? :-) )
JeopardyTempest
<distances><mars><lunar-eclipse>
Distance from Earth to Mars at time of November 8, 2022 lunar eclipse maximum
Bruce Simonson
# Distance from Earth to Mars at time of November 8, 2022 lunar eclipse maximum

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-11-10)

I’m looking for the “exact” distance from the Earth to Mars, at the moment of the lunar eclipse maximum earlier this week (November 8, 2022). As many significant digits as you can muster.

Between the center of the Earth and the center of Mars would be fine, or similar.

Let’s say, at UTC, Nov 8 at 10:59:11.

Extra “points” if you provide information on how to find this distance with the date and time as a parameter.

Thanks.

—— edit/update (responding to a comment, asking for the reason for this question)

After taking handheld iphone photos of the November 8, 2022 lunar eclipse from my porch, I was moved to caption one of the images that began to show a touch of the northern lights as the moon dimmed. (resolutions are reduced to allow upload)

[![mars, pleiades, moon, and a touch of northern lights](https://i.sstatic.net/xkJhm.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/xkJhm.jpg)

[![distances to a few favorites](https://i.sstatic.net/gabeu.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/gabeu.jpg)

[![distance table](https://i.sstatic.net/87EXi.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/87EXi.jpg)

**Tags:** distances, mars, lunar-eclipse
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Presumably that's 10:59:11 PM, or 22:59:11 using a 24 hour clock.  
> **username_0**: November 8, 2022 10:59:11 UTC (AM). Sorry I wasn’t clear. In Alaska (AST), where I live, the time of the eclipse maximum was 1:59:11 AM on November 8.  
> **username_2**: (can always help answerers enthusiasm and question interest to give a bit of insight on why you're looking for it? :-) )  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2022-11-10. Score: 9 | Accepted answer

[JPL Horizons](https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/app.html#/) makes this pretty easy. It gives 0.58950405608881 AU, or 88188551.559899346096867 km, or 54797825.42445825 miles.

Though I believe the ephemeris used by Horizons is accurate to only about 1km, but it is the most accurate ephemeris publicly available.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: With a more precise search, I get 0.58769088079688 au, or 8.791730439702×10^7 km.  
> **username_1**: Oops. I assumed 10:59:10 PM UTC. Using 10:59:10 AM UTC, I get 0.58950409839940 au from Horizons.  
> **username_4**: Giving the answer precise to the picometer is maybe a little bit too "exact".  

---

### Answer by username_0 on 2022-11-10. Score: 3

Here’s a suggestion from @notovny, who commented on a duplicate post of this question on the space exploration stack:

“Wolfram Alpha will basically give you that information with a natural language query.”

Indeed, this seems to work, here’s a screen shot from my iphone:

[![Wolfram Alpha natural language query](https://i.sstatic.net/62khK.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/62khK.png)

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Unfortunately, Wolfram Alpha has accuracy problems.  
> **username_3**: Add the time to the query and see if that makes it match Horizons better.  
> **username_0**: Using “Mars distance from Earth on November 8, 2022 at 10:59 UTC”, Wolfram Alpha returns 0.5895 au. Same result as Horizons, to significant digits.  

---

