Mars had oppositions in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022, but now at the very end of 2024, it just misses coming to opposition, so it begins a new series of odd-numbered year oppositions that will continue from 2025 until 2037.  Here we see Mars starting its retrograde loop by lingering in the area of M44, also known as the Beehive Cluster or Praesepe.  Unannotated image