thing is that this time mars is closer than it's been since 2003 when mars came closer to the earth than it had in about 60,00 years, so that's pretty close. you can see mars in the night sky after 10 o'clock, rising in the east where the sun usually rises and it's a sight to behold: a big glowing red light. mars will get bigger still until the opposition with earth next week. thanks for the link, shaggie, to the nat geo photos.
