The planet Mars currently appears rather dull and uninteresting in the night sky, yet it is also drawing nearer to us with each passing day.
As we noted last month, 2011 is an "off year" for the fabled Red Planet, since it does not come to opposition that point in the sky placing it opposite to the sun. Having only emerged from the glare of the rising sun during June, Mars is now visible in a dark sky, rising this week shortly before 2:30 a.m. local time.
And during the predawn hours of Thursday (Aug. 25), Mars will have a visitor: a slender waning crescent moon that will appear to rise side-by-side with Mars from beyond the east-northeast horizon. The pair will be separated by about 4 degrees. Your clenched fist held at arm's length measures roughly 10 degrees, so early on Thursday morning Mars will appear as a bright "star" situated less than a half fist to the left of the moon.