90 Degree Angle between Earth, Mars, & the Sun?

[Luche]

Struggling a bit in my astronomy class. Trying to understand ..Is there a way to make a 90 degree angle between Earth, Mars, and the Sun? Mars would be the vertex. Is there a simple basic answer? TIA

 

[Charles Link]

If you are saying to put Mars at the 90 degree vertex, I think the answer is no. If you draw a line from the sun to Mars, and remembering that Mars is in a nearly circular orbit farther out from Earth's nearly circular orbit, the 90 degree direction, either way from Mars, will be tangent to the path of the circular orbit of Mars, and can't possibly intersect Earth's orbit, which is a circle with the same center (the sun) as the orbit of Mars. $\\$ I'm going to assume this is not a homework problem=homework problems need to go in the homework section, and the OP is required to fill out the homework template...

 

[Luche]

If you are saying to put Mars at the 90 degree vertex, I think the answer is no. If you draw a line from the sun to Mars, and remembering that Mars is in a nearly circular orbit farther out from Earth's nearly circular orbit, the 90 degree direction, either way from Mars, will be tangent to the path of the circular orbit of Mars, and can't possibly intersect Earth's orbit, which is a circle with the same center (the sun) as the orbit of Mars. $\\$ I'm going to assume this is not a homework problem=homework problems need to go in the homework section, and the OP is required to fill out the homework template...

Thank you!

 

[Vanadium 50]

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elongation_(astronomy)