Star gazing highlight tonight: Mars opposition

Tonight, the Earth will be passing Mars.

Space.com explains:

Because Mars reaches aphelion — its farthest point from the sun — on Feb. 15, this particular opposition will be an unfavourable one. In fact, two days after opposition, Mars will be closest to Earth at a distance of 62.6 million miles.

Compare this with the August 2003 opposition when Mars was only 34.6 million miles away.  Nonetheless, even at this unfavorable opposition the fiery-hued Mars will be an imposing naked-eye sight, shining at magnitude -1.2, just a bit dimmer than Sirius, the brightest star, and will be visible in the sky all night long.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Mars_Valles_Marineris.jpeg/250px-Mars_Valles_Marineris.jpeg