By Stephenie Steitzer
The Cincinnati Enquirer

CRESTVIEW HILLS - Hundreds of people lined up outside the observatory at Thomas More College on Wednesday night to get an up-close and personal peek at Mars.

On Wednesday, Mars and Earth passed as close as they will get for another 284 years - about 35 million miles apart instead of the usual closest pass of about 60 million miles.

MARS ONLINE

• Mars viewing guide: At space.com, see the latest photos, get tips on viewing and photographing the planet, and explore the educational and fun links. • Learning about Mars: Everything you ever wanted to know about "the red planet" is online at marsacademy.com. • Hubble's role in exploring Mars: At the Hubble Web site, find out more about the space telescope and view present and past images of "the red planet." • The future: Manned settlement on Mars?: The Mars Society, a national nonprofit organization founded in 1998, has been seeking funding and support to send humans to Mars within the next 10 years.

There was just one problem when the public viewing opportunity kicked off at 10 p.m. at Thomas More - a cloud obscured the view.

Because of that, not all those who lined up were expected to get a view lasting about a minute, but observatory officials promised they would get another chance next week. The crowds wound around the building, and many people brought lawn chairs to wait it out.

"They'll point me in the right direction and have a better pair of binoculars than I can buy," said Paul Donohue, 57, of Anderson Township.

Another person in line, Christina Koplyay, 10, of Edgewood came with her father, Steve, a graduate of Thomas More.

"We took my telescope outside last year, and we saw what the moon looked like. I really want to see Mars now," she said.

The planet, which will look like a brilliant star with a deep orange tint as its brightness continues to increase, will be clearly visible through September.

"Mars isn't really leaving us that fast," said Greg Huber, an amateur astronomer who is president of the Friends of the Observatory, a nonprofit group that provides staffing for many of the Cincinnati Observatory Center's programs. "It took 21/2 years to get here to this point."

The Thomas More Observatory will be open again from 10 p.m. to midnight today for public Mars views. More public viewings will probably be added next week, said Kelly Rickenbaugh of Thomas More.

Liz Oakes contributed to this report. E-mail ssteitzer@enquirer.com.