Mars is an iconic object in the night sky. Its brightness waxes and wanes over a 2.1-year period, appearing at its most brilliant around opposition. That was on 8 December 2022 and it now shows only a hint of its former glory. Its colour is a different matter, the planet retaining the beautiful orange-pink hue that makes it stand out so well.
Mars starts May at mag. +1.3, dimming only slightly by month end to mag. +1.6, still an easy naked-eye object. At that point it starts to battle with