In late August 2003 Mars is closer to Earth than at any time in nearly 60,000 years, and among those hoping to get a good look at the Red Planet is Oxfordshire star-gazer John Napper.

A picture of Mars, with one of its ice caps visible, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope on August 27 as it reached its closest point to Earth

Mr Napper, from East Hagbourne, near Didcot, is just one of the astronomers across the county keen to inspect the surface of Mars.

But while most make do with a small telescope, the 52-year-old former postman has his own observatory -- in his back garden.

Mr Napper, who gave up his job with the Post Office eight years ago to follow his passion for astronomy, has a 19in reflector telescope set up in his home observatory.

He also has a 10in reflector telescope, which he takes in his car when he heads for the top of the Downs to try to escape from the light pollution which is the bane of everyone who enjoys looking at the stars.

Mr Napper caught the astronomy bug when he was a child.

"I recall my mother told me that if I looked hard and long enough in the night sky I would see a shooting star," he said.

It must have formed a powerful, lasting impression because he now runs a mobile planetarium -- an inflatable 5m-diameter dome accommodating 35 people -- which he uses for astronomical presentations to schools and groups in Oxfordshire and neighbouring counties.

He is a member of the British Association of Planetaria and the Association for Astronomy Education.

Cloudy skies across the county this week have so far prevented many people from seeing the distinctive ice caps and canyons of Mars, but Mr Napper said that with the onset of colder, autumn weather, the view of Mars was likely to improve in coming days.

He said: "Mars will remain just as bright, outshining every other star in the sky, well into next month."

But after reaching its closest point this week -- 34,646,418 miles from Earth -- Mars is already receding at an average of six miles per minute, or about 9,000 miles a day.

Nevertheless, the rate at which Mars is moving away will not affect the view for some weeks.

In fact Mr Napper said it will get easier to see the reddish-orange glow of Mars, which the Romans named after their god of war.

"This week, the best time to see the planet was 1am," he said. "But as it moves farther from Earth, it rises a few minutes earlier each day."

The curse of light pollution from street lighting, shops and businesses, industry and domestic security lights -- which cause a permanent glare and blot out the night sky -- is an issue close to Mr Napper's heart.

He is the Oxfordshire representative for the Campaign for Dark Skies (CfDS). He maintains that as well as being wasteful, much public lighting is unnecessary and could be reduced.

Indeed, he complained about the street lighting outside his home in Blewbury Road and persuaded Oxfordshire County Council to replace it with something more sensitive. The council's sympathetic policies towards light pollution have earned a commendation and a Good Lighting Award from the CfDS.

Mr Napper and fellow star-gazers try to 'escape' to places like the Downs and other vantage points in the county, though he explained: "There is nowhere you can really avoid the glare of urban lighting, which is visible above Blewbury from Didcot and places far away as Reading and Swindon."

When the sky clears, Mars should be visible to the naked eye above the horizon to the south-east, though binoculars or a small telescope will give a better view