Weather permitting, this is a perfect time to observe Mars. Why?

Earth, on its inner orbit, moves faster than Mars and consequently "passes" it; this happens roughly every 26 months. Such events are called "oppositions," and one is approaching in early March. It is at such times that Mars and Earth are at their closest. It is also at such times that Mars is on the opposite side of Earth from the Sun; by necessity, then, Mars will rise at sunset, be visible all night, and set at sunrise. If the orbits of Earth and Mars were circular, that would be the end of the matter.

The orbit of Earth around the Sun is very nearly circular, with its distance at the aphelion (the point of greatest distance from the Sun) about 4% greater than that at perihelion (the point of closest approach to the Sun). The orbit of Mars, however, is decidedly oval or eccentric, with a difference of over 20% between aphelion and perihelion distances. This means that, as far as Earth-Mars distance goes, all oppositions are definitely not equal; the separation between the planets at opposition depends on where along Mars' orbit Earth passes the Red Planet. As it happens, the quality of oppositions varies in a 15-17 year cycle, and the opposition of 2012 is the worst one of the cycle!

In fact, Mars reaches aphelion on February 15 - just seventeen days before opposition. The result, as you can see from the diagram below, is that the distance of Mars from both the Sun and the Earth is near a maximum:

A cycle of oppositions of Mars. This is why the opposition in 2012 is about as poor a one as possible.

And, incidentally, the eccentric orbit of Mars accounts for the fact that, even though Mars reaches opposition on March 3, it is closest to Earth on March 5. On that day the two planets will be 62.6 million miles, or 100.8 million km, apart.