But even so, right now we will be able to see the southern polar icecap of Mars through backyard telescopes...

It's not as if that is THE only night to see the convergence. August 27 happens to be the night when the two planets are at their closest to each other.

However, as I mentioned, you can see the southern polar icecap of Mars right now; it will just get a bit better the closer we get to August 27. And of course you have the "window" on the "other side" of that date, as the planets slowly pull away from each other. So probably from now until perhaps early October you'd be able to see the icecap.

At any rate, it shouldn't be difficult to just go outside and LOOK UP. Mars is bright right now; it is just that it will be at it's absolute brightest in late August.

Hmmm... how to recognize Aquarius... look for the "teapot" shape of Sagittarius which will be more to the south and a bit higher from the horizon at that time. And more to the south of Sagittarius is the distinctive scorpion shape of Scorpius. When Aquarius is on the eastern horizon, Cygnus the Swan is high over its location; you can easily find Cygnus by it's distinctive cross shape. And it's fairly large, too. Move to the east from Cygnus and you'll see an itty bitty constellation that looks like a kite; that's Delphinus, the dolphin. The three, Cygnus/Delphinus/Aquarius line up with each other, with Cygnus high at that time and Aquarius on the horizon... and low to its "right" would be Capricorn, then Sagittarius and then Scorpio. Hopefully you'll be able to find the right location by triangulation.

So wait until later in the night, or before sunrise, and go out and look to the east/southeast. (The later in the night, or the closer to dawn, the more towards the southwest you will be looking, of course.) You will see a BRIGHT planet with a distinctive reddish cast.

That's it. Oh yes, you can tell it's a planet and not a star because it won't be twinkling. It's not a point source of light; it's merely reflecting. And one more thing to remember: these constellations are zodiacal; they follow along the ecliptic. (That's the plane of our solar system.) What this means is that as the constellations rise in the east, they rise up and arc over to set in the west; they don't just "roll" along the horizon. So the later you go out, look more toward the south and west, and HIGHER above the horizon.

But this should make it easier. It is now approximately 1:33 a.m. by my computer, Central Daylight Time. I just got in from looking at Mars.

It is approximately 20+ degrees above the horizon, practically due east by southeast. AND IT IS BIG AND DISTINCTLY ORANGE.

Just GO OUT and LOOK IN THAT DIRECTION at whatever time it is in your location when it is the above time Central. Or, to see it better, wait another hour; it will rise higher and probably be pretty much south by then.

But you just can't miss it if you just GO LOOK.

And Dash, go look at constellations online. Sagittarius, like I said, looks just like a teapot. Scorpius looks just like a scorpion. Cygnus looks just like a big cross. Go out and LOOK UP and you'll begin to learn.

Mars, like any other object in the sky, will rise in the east and set in the west (ok, circumpolar stars don't set, but we won't go there now, hehe). It rises about four minutes earlier each night; now it is rising closer to 10:00 p.m. CDT. You can see it plainly around 11:00 p.m.

Here is a link to information about Mars. While it is receding now, it is more easily seen as it is rising earlier and earlier each day.

Hurry to check it out... by the middle of this month its brilliance will be greatly reduced, and by the end of the month down to 20% of what it is now.

Padme, GREAT about the zoom!!! Lumbia, try viewing it with binoculars if you can.

But even naked eye, it's simply great. So bright and orange!!!

It was only covering a few minutes of arc in the sky; from my observations I would estimate maybe 5-7 minutes of arc?? The full moon covers about 30 minutes of arc, for comparative purposes.