If you've ever wanted to get a good look at the planet Mars without making much effort, you're in luck. Later this month, Mars will be closer to Earth than at any time in the past 60,000 years.

"Fortunately, Mars is such a standout this month that it is very easy to find," explained Larry Sessions, an astronomy instructor in the physics department.

At 3:52 a.m. on Aug. 27, Mars will be 34,646,505 miles from Earth. The two planets will not be this close again until 2287. The most recent of these "perihelic" passages - when Mars and Earth get closer than usual - was in 1988, when the distance was just over 36.5 million miles. The time before that was 1971, when it was about 34.9 million miles.

"It gets better as the month goes on, but at mid-month it rises in the east-southeast shortly after 9 p.m.," Sessions said. "It's in a fairly dull part of the sky called Aquarius, so it is very easy to pick out from a backyard or even a bedroom window if it shows the southern sky. Look for the bright orangish star. It will be the brightest thing in that part of the sky, except when the moon is nearby, which it will be on Aug. 13."

While the occurrence isn't of great scientific significance, Sessions is nevertheless hopeful that interest in space exploration and astronomy will grow after people catch a glimpse of Mars. He is currently one of 300 NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassadors in the country, whose role it is to promote astronomy to the general public.

And there's plenty going on, he says. Currently, the U.S. has one spacecraft - the Mars Global Surveyor - already orbiting Mars and another two are en route. "When they reach Mars in January, each will land in different areas of the planet chosen for a strong possibility of discovering water if it exists there."

To learn more, go to www.jpl.nasa.gov. Additional information is available at Sessions' web site, North American Skies http://www.webcom.com/safezone/NAS.

Also, the Denver Astronomical Society will have a special free observation party on Aug. 27, beginning at 9 p.m. in Observatory Park in south Denver. http://www.denverastrosociety.org/marsoppo/marsoppotop.html.