Mars Viewing at UCLA - November 2, 2005
The UCLA Planetarium hosted an evening of Mars viewing on November 2, 2005. The date fell between Mars' closest approach to Earth (October 29) and opposition (November 6). "Opposition" means that Mars is directly opposite the Sun in the sky so that Mars rises at sunset, transits (crosses the meridian and reaches its highest position in the sky) at midnight, and sets at sunrise.
Even though Mars was closer to the Earth in August 2003 than it was in November 2005, Mars was even more spectacular for Northern Hemisphere observers on the latter date because it was higher in the sky at opposition (66° maximum altitude as opposed to 34° maximum altitude). This means that surface features on Mars appeared clearer when the red planet was observed with binoculars and small telescopes. Read this NASA article for more details.
This special event was similar to the Mars viewing held by the UCLA Planetarium in September 2003, featuring a Mars show in the planetarium and several telescopes set up for Mars viewing, including the UCLA Astronomy 24-inch reflector and CCD camera.