Tell Jim Conwell that Mars hasn’t been closer to Earth in almost 60,000 years and he reacts like it just happened last week.

Actually, the physics professor, who calls himself a “recovering amateur astronomer,” points out the Red Planet gets this close every two years. He even casually adds, “it’s going to be nearly as good next week.”

A few minutes before 5 a.m. Wednesday, Mars will be 34.6 million miles from Earth – the nearest it’s been in 59, 619 years.

The next time it neighbors up so close? Year 2287.

For Conwell, the founder of the Astronomy Club, observing Mars is as everyday as the double play to a baseball fan.

The last time he remembers getting excited from any happening in outer space was 1987. Before both George Bush’s were elected into office. Before the Astronomy Club’s observatory was built.

In mid-October, the final touches on the astronomy observatory will be completed. The garage-sized building will house Eastern’s largest telescope, a $20,000, 600-pound telescope that can observe stars 5 billion light years away.

To stabilize the telescope from vibrating, a 14-ton concrete pillar rises up from the ground. A 7-feet high, retractable and rotating dome will provide the window for the telescope.

Still, Conwell has seen Mars’ polar ice caps up close many times before. He remembers the first telescope he ever owned, at age 13, the one he crafted from a build-it-yourself kit.

Conwell knows astronomy like the back of his hand; like a book.

“When I look at the sky at night, it’s like I have the instruction manual for the universe,” Conwell said. “I know not only how things shine, but why and for how long. I know how long stars live and when they die. It’s just about knowing more about the things you love.”

Keith Andrew, chair of the physics department, said it’s easiest to see Mars on-campus to walk past O’Brien Field to the intramural soccer fields and gaze into the sky. Andrews says Mars will be “just a bright red, brighter than any star that’s up there” and can be found in the southeast. If one were standing at Old Main around 10 p.m., Mars would appear above Carman Hall.

With the telescope in October, Conwell can see Mars any time.