Here’s how to use the Moon on the first Sunday and Monday this month to find Mars, which will be at its closest and brightest for all of 2010 and 2011 at the end of the month.

On New Year's Eve, Dec. 31, just after sunset, face east where you will see an exquisite full Moon rising. It will be the second full of Moon of December, and whenever a month has two full Moons the second one is always called a Blue Moon, although it has nothing to do with the Moon's color.

Here is the really nifty part. As hour after hour goes by the Moon will climb higher and higher and reach its highest point above the horizon at midnight, the moment we ring in the New Year. And because it is a December full Moon, it will be extremely high at midnight. This won't happen again for 19 years.

For you planet aficionados let me just say that the tiny 4,000-mile-wide red planet Mars is racing toward Earth and will get steadily brighter every single night until it reaches its brightest on Friday, Jan. 29. You can start your Mars watch on New Year's Eve while you are moon gazing. Just look east for Leo the Lion, who's marked by a sickle-shaped group of stars followed by a triangle.

Just above the sickle, Leo's head, you'll see a rouge-gold light and that is Mars, only 12 degrees away from Regulus, the star that marks Leo's heart. Watch Mars get brighter and brighter every single night.

If you are one of those stargazers who has a hard time finding planets, then go out at midnight on Jan. 3 and you'll see the Moon just beneath it, forming a triangle with it and Regulus. On Monday, Juan. 4, the Moon will be just past Regulus, making a nice curved arc with it and Mars.

SUBHED
The brilliant planet Jupiter pairs up with an exquisite waxing crescent Moon in the middle of January. On Sunday, Jan. 17, at one hour after sunset, face southwest where you will see an absolutely dazzling 88,000-mile-wide Jupiter. Just below it off to its right you’ll see a slender sliver of a waxing – that is growing – crescent Moon complete with earthshine. I remind you that this is the kind of cosmic pairing that has fascinated human beings throughout all recorded history. Don't miss this please.

2010 could well be labeled the year of Jupiter because on Sept. 20 it will be at its closest, biggest and brightest since 1963, an event of which I will keep you posted throughout the year.

But just how close will Jupiter come to Earth? When you look at Jupiter and our nearest neighbor the Moon on Jan. 17, our Moon will be about 252,000 miles away. Jupiter, however, will be 540 million miles away. By Sept. 20, it will be only 367 million miles away.

So see Jupiter while you can because it will slowly drop lower and lower toward the western horizon and by the end of February will disappear from sight and will not return until April.

SUBHED

The last week of January brings not Mars at its closest, biggest and brightest for this year and next, but we'll also have the closest, biggest and brightest full Moon for all of 2010.

Any night the week of Jan. 25 and the following week at a couple hours after sunset, face east and you will see Mars, a dazzling rouge gold steadily glowing light, brighter than any star in the sky except Sirius, the brightest star we can see. You can compare it to Mars simply by turning to the right and looking southeast.

Notice, however, that while Sirius is slightly more dazzling, it shines a brilliant cold bluish-white while Mars glows a warm yellow-gold with a hint of rouge red.

Whereas Mars was 69 million miles away on Jan. 1, by Jan. 27 it is at its closest at only 62 million miles away.

If you haven’t been able to see Mars before this week, you can find it now just by looking east. It will be directly above Leo the Lion. And because it is directly opposite the Sun it will be visible all the hours the Sun is not, which means it will rise in the east just after the Sun sets. It will slowly travel up the heavens and reach its highest point at midnight and then will slowly descend the heavens and set in the west as the Sun rises in the east.

Although Mars is at its brightest this week, it will still be bright throughout February. But because it is only half the size Earth, it never gets really big in a telescope like Jupiter, which is 88,000 miles wide. Through a telescope you'll see more of its northern hemisphere, which is tilted toward Earth right now. In fact it is springtime in Mars' northern hemisphere so you'll be able to watch Mars' northern polar icecap, which will look like a white dot, slowly shrink as the weeks go by and spring turns into summer.

To see the biggest and brightest full Moon of the year, simply go outside on Jan. 30 just after sunset, face east and watch it rise. It will be only 221,560 miles away, which is 31,000 miles closer than the farthest full Moon of this year on Aug. 24. In fact it will look 13 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter. Now because full Moons always look bigger when they are closer to the horizon, this full Moon will look its biggest just after sunset on Saturday and just before sunrise Sunday.