Mars is going to be our favorite planet in the New Year. If you haven't seen it lately, the time approaches when it will be at its brightest and prominent in our night sky. The planet comes up late in the night. Look after 10 p.m. for it rising in the east. Later is better.

Jupiter rising in the east outshines Mars. Still, seeing the red colored planet is still a pretty sight. Mars reaches opposition, closest to the Earth, on January 16. It will be 59 million miles away, the closest it has been in a long time. Don't wait until January. You can already get a preview of what is to come by taking a moment and looking up.

Mars is in the zodiacal constellation Cancer, a nondescript small constellation but that is for a short time. In January, the planet will be in Gemini, one of the winter favorites, not far from the constellations Orion and Taurus.

For purposes of comparison, Jupiter is 382 million miles away from us.

Venus which is setting in the western sky an hour after sunset  is only 25 million miles away.