• As soon as darkness falls, let the waxing gibbous moon be your guide to the red planet Mars and Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo the Lion. The threesome lights up the sky from nightfall until the wee hours of the morning.
• The moonlit glare may make it difficult to see color tonight. But Mars glowers red whereas Regulus radiates blue-white. If you have binoculars, they'll help you to see this delightful contrast of color.
• Mars' diameter is just a bit more than one-half the Earth's. Yet despite its rather puny size, Mars sports the largest known

mountain in the solar system: Olympus Mons (Mount Olympus).
• This great big volcano stands nearly three times higher than Mt. Everest, the highest mountain on Earth. The base of Olympus Mons covers an area as large as the state of Arizona.
• Speaking of Arizona, Mars also boasts of a canyon that totally dwarfs the Grand Canyon: Valles Marineris (Mariner Valley). This humongous formation is some 5 times longer, 20 times wider and 4 times deeper than Earth's Grand Canyon!
• Despite its small size, Mars exhibits a wild topography that makes this world one of the centerpieces of the solar system. Think about that as you look at these two dots of light - Mars and Regulus - by the waxing gibbous moon tonight.
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