The red planet is at its closest to us in six years at the moment. To celebrate, it will be worth trying to see it where is hangs around near the Virgo’s alpha star, Spica. Here is a link to a nifty guide downloadable for free from One-Minute Astronomer.
http://oneminuteastronomer.com/9867/guide-observing-mars-2014/
Rigil
Alas, even at opposition, my humble little spotting scope does not have enough resolution to show any surface features…
I heard it will be as big as the moon.
I heard Buffy is going to battle evil forces trying to open a portal to hell.
Yes, and we are really lucky because Mars only gets that close every twenty thousand years. On the downside, it now completely obscures Nibiru, so we’re going to be taken completely by surprise.
A trivial but interesting factoid just occurred to me: If a planet is in opposition to the sun, it will necessarily occupy the same region in the sky as the full moon. I’ll check it out on the 14th, cloudgods permitting.
Rigil
Next time Mars catches up with Jupiter, so they occupies the same region of sky, they will look pretty neat when in conjunction with the moon: white, yellowish and red all together. Hopefully with some bright, blue star thrown in there as well. 