If Mars seems unusually large and bright in the night sky this weekend, it's not your imagination.
The Red Planet will appear brightest from Friday through Monday nights as it makes its closest approach to Earth in 15 years. Mars will be a mere 36 million miles from Earth, according to NASA, before both planets travel farther away from each other as they orbit the sun.
NASA plans to release on Friday what scientists say will be stunning new images of Mars taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The release of the photos coincides with the planet's close approach to Earth. Hubble, one of the largest space telescopes, captured images of dust storms on the Red Planet this summer.
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