Watch: Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in 11 years today!

The Red Planet will be about 46.8 million miles away from the Earth, its closest distance since November 2005.

New Delhi: Space enthusiasts are in for a spectacular celestial treat on Monday night when Mars comes at its closest point to Earth in 11 years.

According to NASA, the Red Planet will be about 46.8 million miles away from the Earth tonight, its closest distance since November 2005, and reaching its highest point around midnight - about 35 degrees above the southern horizon, or one third of the distance between the horizon and overhead.

To see Mars in detail, you need a telescope with 75-100 times magnification. Mars will be visible for much of the night.

But, worry not, even if you do not have an equipment or bad weather threatens to play spoilsport to your local view, you can still watch online as Slooh Community Observatory is offering a free live webcast of Mars with its remotely operated telescopes, beginning at 9 p.m. EDT (0100 GMT) on Slooh.com. Or else, you can also watch the Mars webcast on Space.com here, courtesy of Slooh.

Although, Mars is technically at its closest on Monday, it will remain closer to the Earth up until June 12.

By mid-June, Mars will become fainter as Mars and Earth travel farther away from each other in their orbits around the Sun.

In case, you miss seeing Mars close approach tonight, you'll have to wait for two years to have an up-close look at our Red Planet. The next Mars close approach is on July 31, 2018.