Star Tours

Mars lies opposite the sun on Saturday and closest to Earth a week later, making the next two weeks the best time to see it. Mars rises in the east as the sun sets in the west, and by 11 p.m. it is high in the southeast. It is the brightest object in that part of the sky. The star Arcturus is to its upper left and the star Spica nearer to Mars and to its upper right. Mars will not be so close or so bright again until June 2001.

Source: John Mosley, Griffith Observatory