During rare oppositions, every 81 years, such as in 1975 and 2056, Eros will be directly away from the sun, as seen from Earth. Then, Eros can reach a magnitude of +7.1, which is brighter than Neptune and brighter than any main belt asteroid except 4 Vesta (and sometimes 2 Pallas and 7 Iris). At opposition, the asteroid actually appears to stop in place when compared to stars in the sky. Unlike most objects in the solar system, it never appears to be retrograde (back-track across the sky).