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What you need

Enthusiasm for Mars

Good eyesight

A light pair of binoculars, say 7脳50

FOR a few weeks this October, Mars overtakes Jupiter to become the third brightest object in the night sky. The only brighter things at this time will be the moon and Venus, which appears in the early hours of the morning. This means that during the evenings, the Red Planet will dominate the skies.

The elliptical orbits of Earth and Mars now bring the planets closer than they have been since 2003. On 6 October, when Mars was closest to Earth, there were about 62 million kilometres between it and us 鈥� 163 million kilometres closer than the average distance.

A week later, on 13 October, Mars reached opposition: Earth sat directly between Mars and the sun, meaning Mars was fully illuminated. Although that was a week after its closest approach, this is when the Red Planet seemed brightest because of an effect called opposition surge, which makes objects brighten when they are illuminated from directly behind the observer.

On 16 October, a new moon meant there was no moonlight, so Mars was the brightest object that night. But all of October is a great time to look at the planet because it will be shining more brightly than during the rest of the year.

You won鈥檛 need any equipment to look at Mars: it is bright enough to see with the naked eye, even in places with a lot of light pollution. Just look towards the east after sunset or the west before sunrise and identify the brightest 鈥渟tar鈥� that you can see, with a red glow. This will be Mars.

Throughout October, the planet will appear around the time of sunset and stay visible all night, in both the southern and northern hemispheres. It will rise in the east, tracing the path the sun takes across the sky during the day.

Jupiter and Saturn will also shine brightly, but you will find these by looking south after sunset. If you are uncertain, using a stargazing app can confirm whether you have identified Mars.

Once you find the planet, grab a pair of binoculars. They are usually described by two numbers: the magnification and the size of the lens. A 7脳50, for instance, is a small pair of binoculars that will make any object look seven times bigger. Binoculars of this magnification can be used for birdwatching, but are also great for beginner鈥檚 astronomy because they are small and light enough that whatever you are looking at won鈥檛 wobble.

For more detailed stargazing, such as looking at asteroids or Jupiter鈥檚 moons, you will probably need a larger pair. But unless you mount them on a tripod, it will be almost impossible to hold them steady enough to see the objects.

If you have a pair of binoculars of any magnification, using them to look at Mars will enhance its colour. Since the planets travel independently compared with the stars, if you study Mars for long enough, you may be able to spot it moving relative to a nearby star.

These articles are posted each week at newscientist.com/maker