The last time Mars came this close to Earth, our ancestors were living in caves and struggling to make basic tools out of rocks.

A mere 60,000 years later, thousands of people around the world will use a vast array of high-tech digital and optical equipment on Wednesday to observe the "red planet" as it passes.

From the Polynesian shores of Tahiti to outback Australia and Japan amateur and professional stargazers began aiming their telescopes towards the eastern sky for a close encounter with Mars.

At 0951 GMT Mars will pass just 55.76 million km (34.65 million miles) close to Earth, making it the closest encounter between the two planets since the Stone Age.

"Mars will be the brightest object in the sky except for the moon and its reddish colour will make it easy to find," said Nick Lomb, Sydney Observatory's curator of astronomy.

"Telescopes, even small ones, will allow you to see detail on Mars, including a polar cap and other surface features."

The last time Mars came nearer was around September 12 in 57,617 B.C. when Mars was about 55.72 million km (34.62 million miles) from Earth. If you miss it this time you'll have to wait 284 years for another such close encounter.

The US-based Planetary Society has declared August 27 "Mars Day". Its Web site (http://planetary.org/marswatch2003) details global events from official viewings from observatories in Sydney and Beijing to desert star parties in places like Jordan.

AWAY FROM CITY LIGHTS

Some of the best viewing will be in the southern hemisphere, especially from isolated tiny South Pacific islands like Tahiti, thought to be the closest point on Earth to Mars, and outback Australia, where a lack of pollution from city lights means Mars will shine bright red in the night sky.

Mars will appear to be about the same size as a mid-sized crater on the moon to those looking with the naked eye.

Australia's Siding Springs Observatory, around 400 km (250 miles) northwest of Sydney, plans to beam images of Mars onto a large screen at the local Coonabarabran community hall.

"We are going to have a link-up to the 24-inch (telescope) here and in town there will be a set-up at the dramatic society hall...Outside we'll have a guide showing people Mars through binoculars," said Helen Goodyear from the observatory.

"We are going to have a link-up basically because if we had a lot of cars coming up here, car lights tend to give off a lot of light pollution so that will actually interfere with viewing so we would lose a lot of seeing," Goodyear told local radio.

But while Mars will be the closest it has been to Earth since the Stone Age, man's long held dream of man landing on the mysterious "Red Planet" remains further away than ever.

The "Red Planet" has always fired the human imagination.

RED PLANET FOCUS

Mars was the god of war in Roman mythology and the planet made good copy for early sci-fi fiction, such as Ray Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles". H.G. Wells' story of a Martian invasion, "The War of the Worlds", broadcast by Orson Wells shocked its American audience.

And hope that life exists, or at least existed, on Mars still persists. Recent NASA probes have sent back images suggesting water once flowed on or near the Martian surface. Water is seen as a prerequisite for life on other planets.

On Monday, NASA selected the low-cost Phoenix probe as the first so-called Scout mission to Mars. Phoenix is expected to land on Mars in late 2008.

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