This blog item is being placed here because it really doesn't fit well anywhere else.

But if over the next couple of weeks you look east at night you'll notice a bright, reddish-colored object in the night sky. It won't be a star, either. What you'll be seeing is the planet Mars, the brightest it's been in two years, says the experts at Astronomy magazine.

The experts say that Mars will appear 50 percent brighter and will rise earlier as well, appearing nearly overhead around midnight and setting just before the sun rises in the morning.

The only objects to appear brighter than Mars is the star Sirius (which lies well to Mars' right) and the planet Jupiter, which sets west not long after Mars appears, Astronomy magazine says.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com