It's a great time to go outdoors and look at planets. I have three glorious planetary portraits to share today, sent to me by amateur astronomer Jean-Luc Dauvergne. He's been observing for the last week, he said, from Pic du Midi Observatory in the French Pyrenees, using a 1-meter telescope built in 1963 to perform lunar mapping to prepare for the Apollo missions.

Mars is much in the news right now, as it was at opposition on May 22 and it will be closer to Earth than it has been for 11 years on May 30. Its orange glow is easy to spot in the night sky, even from inside a building. That means that it's an especially good time to view it from Earth-based observatories. Enjoy the clouds above Mars' great volcanoes, and give a little wave to Gale crater, where Curiosity is toiling away.