These pictures were sent in to Youghalonline.com by local photographer John Hennessy and were taken last Friday night 29th Jan. 2010. The planet Mars  lined up above and to the left of the moon, allowing both to be seen by Earth-based astronomy enthusiasts. Photo: John Hennessy

The red planet, now 62 million miles from Earth, will be at its brightest this year as it lines up opposite the sun. At around 9pm, last Friday, Mars was above and to the left of the moon, about the length of an outstretched fist away.

A standard SLR camera fitted with a telephoto lens is all you needed to capture the scene

Mars is at its most spectacular when close to the Earth at opposition. In 2003 the planet was just 35 million miles away as it faced the sun, and more than four times brighter than seen last week.