In the novel, "The War of the Worlds", by H.G. Wells (my favorite book by the way), during a time when Mars and Earth are at a close orbital distance from each other, the Martians begin an invasion. 

On October 6th, Mars will be a mere 38.6 million miles away from Earth, a stones throw away in galactic terms.

At this time, no Martian invasion is expected but a nice view of the Red Planet can be looked forward too.

Over the past few nights, Mars has been near our Moon in the night sky.  As the Moon moves away over the next few days, this will set us up to have a great view of Mars without lunar glare.

On Tuesday, Mars and the Earth will be closer than any other time in the next fifteen years. 

You'll have to wait until 2035 for Earth and Mars to be at a closer distance than they will be this week.  The closest the two planets can ever actually get to each other is 33.9 million miles.  The farthest they can be apart is roughly 249 million miles.

This close approach with our planet will be perfectly timed with Mars' "opposition" with Earth and the Sun.  Opposition occurs when the Earth lies between the Sun and another planet, in this instance, Mars. 

Because of these two events occurring within days of one another, Mars will be quite brilliant in the night sky over the next few weeks.

Mars will be easy to see and identify. 

Look for a reddish object in the eastern sky during the evening.  You will be able to observe it with the unaided eye but a telescope or binoculars will give you an even better view.