If coyotes howl at the Moon, then what do wild animals do when Mars gets close to Earth?

On August 27, 2003, Earth and Mars were the closest they had been in nearly 60,000 years.

On Sunday, October 30th, 2005, the fourth planet from the Sun in our solar system will be only 43.1 million miles (69.4 million km) from Earth. In 2003, the Red Planet and the place we call home were 34.65 million miles apart. While this Sunday's viewing opportunity will not be as close as in 2003, the Institute of Celestial Mechanics at the Paris Observatory states that the viewing prospects are expected to be better.

Two years ago, the course Mars took went above the horizon for viewers in Earth's northern hemisphere. This meant that the image of Mars was distorted by light passing through the atmosphere.

Amateur astronomers will be delighted to only need a two-inch (60mm) telescope to get a glimpse of Syrtis Major and possibly the Helas impact crater near the south pole.

Three telescopes worth considering are:

High-End

The Meade ETX125EC Telescope w/ UHTC, Autostar Controller (497) and Tripod (884)

Mid-Range

The Celestron SkyMaster 25X100 ASTRO Binoculars

Lower Cost

Bushnell Brass Telescope

The Bushnell Harbormaster Brass 35 x 60mm Tabletop Refractor Telescope (available for order now)

Other Bushnell telescopes are currently available.

The next time Mars gets anywhere near this close it will be the year 2018.

The next time the planets will be closer than in 2003 the year will be 2287.

This photograph captured by NASA's Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope shows Mars when it was approximately 43 million from Earth.

Look to the east for a large orange-yellow star early in the evening.

As the night progresses, Mars is expected to be seen higher in the sky.

In the early hours of the morning, look for Mars in the west.

Over the next month, Mars will remain the brightest object in the sky.

Of course, the bigger the telescope the more you will get to see.

Mars is an arid, rocky, cold and apparently lifeless planet. It is home to the largest volcano in the solar system. It has the deepest canyon. And it has wild weather and temperature patterns.

Astronomers and astronomy enthusiasts may begin singing Jimi Hendrix' famous song "Purple Haze" when they look up at Mars. At the planet's north pole winter is beginning, and icy-purple clouds are beginning to gathering there.

Whereas the average distance of the Earth to the Sun is 93 million miles, the average distance of Mars to the Sun is 142 million miles.

Earth's diameter is 7,926 miles. Mars' diameter is 4,220 miles.

Mars is named after the Roman god of war because of its red hue of color.

Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos.

Those who are part of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese cultures refer to the planet as the Fire Star, based on the Five Elements, wood, fire, earth, metal and water.

Last month, at a global leadership forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the first human being to step foot on the moon, Apollo 11 Astronaut Neil Armstrong, said that a manned mission to Mars is at least 20 years away. However, Armstrong believes that such a manned (or womanned) mission will be easier to accomplish than the Apollo missions.

The seventy-five year-old hero, said:

It will be expensive; it will take a lot of energy and a complex spacecraft.

But I suspect that, even though the various questions are difficult and many, they are not as difficult and many as those we faced when we started the Apollo Program in 1961.

On October 18th, an authorized biography of Armstrong's life was published.

Penned by James R. Hansen, the "Eagle Has Landed" 1969 chronicle "and beyond" is called First Man : The Life of Neil A. Armstrong.

On October 31st, after you've finished trick or treating, turn on PBS.

"Race to the Moon," an American Experience program which recaptures the drama of the 1968 Apollo 8 Frank Borman-led mission that sent three men (Frank Borman, James Lovell & William Anders) into orbit around the moon for the first time. Apollo 8 was the second manned mission of the Apollo space program launched by NASA.

For more information about Mars, please go to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter site at:

Inspire & Be Inspired.

Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful, "astronomically impressive" living!

~ Jennifer Carolyn King, Rugged Elegance, LLC