Here is a most spectacular photo of astronomer Dennis Mammana of California pointing out Mars to onlookers on Aug. 26, 2003. He is lit by a flashlight which accounts for the extraordinary image and he is pointing at mars the last time it was as close to the earth as it will be on Oct. 30, 2005.

(I cheated and coloured Mars in red, it is actually whiteish like the rest of the objects in the sky in the original)

On October 30th Mars will come within 69 million kilometers of Earth. To the unaided eye, Mars will look like a bright red star, easily the biggest object in the night sky, excluding the moon. Certain rumours about it actually being as big as a full moon are, fortunately, completely inaccurate. If it was close enough to be that big then the tides it would generate would make the Boxing Day Tsunami off the coast of Indonesia look like a ripple in a kiddies pool.

It may not be as big as a full moon but it is worth a look anyway.

See the original photo and a bigger story at the NASA website.