The Red Planet reaches its best position all year this week on January 15. Here’s how and when to get out and see it.

The Red Planet will be at its closest point to Earth, also known as perigee, on Jan. 12 and will be exactly opposite the sun on Jan. 15. It will be visible all night long because it will rise with the sunset and set with the sunrise.

As Mars approaches opposition this week, it will become a dazzling spectacle in the night sky. See it at its best now, or wait until 2027.

Mars will seem to disappear behind the full wolf moon Monday for many sky-gazers. Throughout January, also look up to see Venus, Saturn and Jupiter in the night sky.

It’s a term used by astronomers to describe when Earth, Mars and the Sun align. When this happens, Earth sits directly between Mars and the Sun, positioning the red planet directly opposite of the Sun in the sky.

So I grabbed my camera, ran outside, and looked up just as Mars was supposed to emerge from the Moon's curved horizon. Seen with the naked eye, the Moon's brightness far outshined Mars, casting soft shadows on a cold winter evening in East Texas.

On Monday night you may have a chance to witness the moon obscuring the Red Planet at its brightest, as well as a comet’s closest approach to the sun.

January's full Wolf Moon will "eat" Mars for a short time tonight as the Red Planet prepares for opposition later this week.