Mars is a tantalizing planet. At its best, it can appear bright orange-red, with a surface that reveals gigantic volcanoes and canyons, and ice caps made of cold carbon dioxide that change in size. It even has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos, that may be glimpsed. However, much of the time, Mars appears as a pale, featureless orb.
The key to understanding this is distance. At its closest, Mars may be fairly close at just 35 million miles away. At its furthest, it may be 250 million miles away, or 7 times further. How can this be?
It is easy to understand Mars' changing distance from Earth if you think of Earth and Mars as runners on a circular track with the Sun at the center. Earth is in the inside lane. They start off side-by-side, but Earth is faster and pulls ahead quickly. In time though, since the track is circular, Earth catches up to and laps Mars getting very close once again. This cycle takes 26 months.
The time when Earth is alongside and close to Mars is known as an opposition. Stargazers with telescopes eagerly await each opposition in hopes of seeing Mars at its best. But what can be seen really depends on the weather on both Earth and Mars. On Earth, if the 'seeing' is not good (too much twinkling), details will be fuzzy or lost. On Mars, if there are global dust storms, there won't be anything to see.
Viewing the best of Mars requires lots of patience and luck. Yes, Mars is a tantalizing planet.
2024 Calendar
* Oppositions: Dec 7, 2022 and Jan 15, 2025
* Superior Conjunction: Nov 17, 2023 (halfway point between oppositions)
* For 2024, Mars will transition from being a very challenging morning target to a very easy all-night target, getting brighter and larger throughout the year as the Jan 15, 2025 opposition nears.
* Best viewing for each month (mid-month):
Look for a bright, orangish-red orb on the ecliptic. To confirm, use binoculars or telescope to look for the disk of a planet rather than the point of light from a star. Don't confuse Mars with the bright red stars Antares (Scorpius), Aldebaran (Taurus) or Betelgeuse (Orion).
* Mars will appear high in the S sky all month.
* Constellation: Cancer (all month)
* Special: the five planets Mars, Jupiter, Saturn , Uranus, and Neptune will be aligned along the ecliptic all month but Uranus and Neptune will need dark, moonless skies.
* On Dec 17 a very bright waning gibbous Moon will align with Mars along with the open star cluster known as M44. Other names include Beehive Cluster and Praesepe (Latin for manger). A binocular or telescope can be a great aid in viewing this alignment and comparing the worlds. Toggle the image above to see.
Mars (December, 2024) 
