======================== Mars passed through opposition on April 8, 2014, at which it attained a magnitude of -1.48 (almost exactly as bright as Sirius) and a diameter of 15.08" (although several days later it would be closest to Earth and attain a diameter of 15.15").  Here we are catching it several weeks later and further along in its retrograde loop.  As a bonus, we see the two brightest asteroids, Ceres and Vesta, to the upper left of Mars near τ Virginis.  On this date, Mars is magnitude -1.29, Ceres +7.04, and Vesta +5.81.  As luck would have it, on this date we find both asteroids near stars that are brighter than they are.