A Dark and Stormy Night . ... But on 2003 August 29th the red planet Mars, near its closest approach to Earth in almost 60,000 years, shone brightly in the sky against a background of stars in the constellation Aquarius . ... Tonight, the night before Halloween , Mars will also pass close to the Earth, closer than it will come during the next thirteen years. And once again, the red planet Mars will look particularly bright, although much smaller and dimmer than the Moon and even Venus. ...