Mars is pushing into the pre-midnight sky, and getting brighter as it does so. In about three weeks, it’ll be rising at sunset, and putting on its brightest performance of the year. It’s already the third-brightest object in the night sky, after the Moon and the planet Jupiter. Mars will stay in third place, but it’ll grow almost twice as bright as it is tonight.

Mars is pumping up its appearance because Earth is getting ready to pass it by. Our planet is closer to the Sun than Mars is, so Earth follows a shorter path, and it moves faster along that path. The combination means that we pass Mars about every 26 months. And not surprisingly, when we’re closest, Mars shines brightest.

The planet also moves backwards against the dome of the sky as we move by it. It’s like passing another car on the highway. When the car is far ahead of you, it appears to move forward against the background of distant buildings and trees. As you pass it, though, it briefly appears to move backward against that background. The car is still moving forward, but because of the changing positions, it appears to move in reverse.

For a planet, “reverse” is known as retrograde. Mars will continue that westward motion for about three months, then resume its normal eastward motion in late July.

For now, look for bright orange Mars quite low in the southeast by 11 or 11:30. The star Antares is close below Mars, with the planet Saturn farther to its lower left.

Script by Damond Benningfield