See Mars at Its Closest in the Night Sky Until 2033
Mars is looking bright and beautiful in the night sky right now.
Mars is one of the most easily identifiable objects in the night sky. It glows a dirty red and is relatively bright.
If you want to go enjoy the red planet, now is a great time. The planet was at its closest to Earth on the night of November 30. However, as Sky and Telescope notes, "for all practical purposes" Mars is just as close to our eyes for around a week before and after November 30. It says, rounded to the nearest tenth of an arcsecond, the planet will show the same diameter from November 28 to December 4. Even after that, before its December 7 opposition, Mars will appear close to the same diameter.
You have many options for when you want to get out and see Mars looking stellar. It won't be this close to Earth again until 2033, according to Sky and Telescope. The planet is currently brighter than most stars, rising in the east before sunset and sticking around in the sky throughout the night.
Mars will still look swell on the night of December 7 into the morning of December 8 when the moon will occult the red planet. That means Mars will disappear behind the moon before reappearing on the other side of the full moon. There are a lot of reasons to step out and look at Mars in early December.