Mars aligns with the sun and Earth today in a cosmic event that occurs just once every 26 months --- and you can watch it live online, now.

The Red Planet and sun are positioned directly opposite each other on Earth's visual plain, which is the reason the phenomenon is known as "opposition." Mars, Earth and the sun will be arranged in a nearly a perfect line.

You can watch two live shows about the Mars opposition now, over the respective Websites of the Virtual Telescope Project (https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/) and the Slooh, a network of ground-based telescopes accessible by the general public over the Internet (https://events.slooh.com/).

During opposition, Mars shines approximately 10 times brighter than a 1st-magnitude star and some of the planet's surface features will even be visible with backyard telescopes, Slooh officials said.

As well, the Red Planet rises near sunset and remains visible throughout the night, as it moves pretty nearly overhead across the sky. It will be a bright orange color, National Auronatics and Space Administration's Mars Exploration Program reports.

"From our perspective on our spinning world, Mars rises in the east just as the sun sets in the west," a NASA statement said. "Then, after staying up in the sky the entire night, Mars sets in the west just as the sun rises in the east."

With no big storms forecast tonight, according to the National Weather Service, Mars should be visible in most areas across the country.

Then, next week, on April 14, Mars and Earth draw to within about 58 million miles of each other, the smallest distance between the two worlds since March 2012. Stargazers will have another treat the same night when the full moon appears near Mars.

According to Astronomyreports, Mars won't appear as big or bright again until May 22, 2016.