Mr demille, I’m ready for my close-up,迪麦尔先生，我已经准备好了！

August of 2003 is a special time for scientists and amateur astronomers. Our red neighbor, Mars will move closer than it’s been in 50,000 years. On August 27, 2003, the “red planet” will be less than 55.76 million kilometers (34.65 million miles) away from the Earth. That sounds like a huge distance, but in stellar terms, that’s a stone’s throw. Just six months ago, Mars was about five times that distance.
"Think of Earth and Mars as two race cars going around a track," said Dr. Myles Standish, an astronomer from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "Earth is on a race track that is inside the track that Mars goes around, and neither track is perfectly circular. There is one place where the two race tracks are closest together.

When Earth and Mars are at that place simultaneously, it is an unusually close approach, referred to as a 'perihelic opposition'."
The term “opposition” means that Earth and another planet are lined up in the same direction from the Sun. “Perihelic comes from perihelion, the orbital point when a celestial body is closest to the Sun. This event brings Mars to its perihelion to the Sun opposition with Earth at the same time.

Opposition occurs about every two years, when Earth with its faster orbit passes Mars. In 1995, the opposition brought Mars 101.1 million kilometers (62.8 million miles) from the Earth, twice as far as this most recent approach.

"It gets more complicated as the race tracks are changing shape and size and are rotating, changing their orientation," Standish explains. "So this place where the two tracks are closest together constantly changes, changing the opposition closeness as well. This is why a 'great' approach, like the one this month, hasn’t happened in 50,000 years. But with the tracks closer together now, there will be even closer approaches in the relatively near future."

Viewing Mars through a telescope is the best way to take advantage of this unique opportunity. This summer, Mars has been noticeably bright in the night’s sky, with only Venus and the Moon brighter. From the Northern Hemisphere it can be seen in the constellation Aquarius, best seen just before dawn.

"You're not going to go outside and see some big red ball in the sky. It will look like a bright red star," said Standish.

Although the distance between our planet and Mars will be shortest on August 27, you should consider trying to view the planet earlier. The dust storm season on Mars is starting soon and can hinder a good view.

Try to visit an observatory, which will allow you to view Mars, if possible. If not, use your own telescope, binoculars, or even your naked eyes. Just take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The next time Mars approaches this close will be 2287.

观测火星的最好时机已经来了！各位准备咯。今年最好的时间是8月27日，但是最好早点观测，因为届时的尘暴将影响观测。错过了，下次机会就是2287年了哦。