Stargazers were treated to their first glimpse of the planet Mars on Wednesday, November 20, as it begins its winter journey.

As the moon rose it joined in conjunction with the red planet, due to them sharing the same ascension placing both in the Cancer constellation.

It was the first time Mars has been seen over East Lancashire in two years.

Bacup astronomer Stephen Brame captured the image and explained on Facebook: “Light takes seven minutes and 16 seconds to reach the Earth from Mars.

Images of Venus and Saturn captured by StephenImages of Venus and Saturn captured by Stephen (Image: Stephen Brame)

“It is currently 130,910,119 kilometres from Earth.”

He also captured stunning images of Venus and Saturn from his telescope when they could be seen earlier this year.

The interplay of light and shadow on the lunar surface also made mountain ranges and craters on the Moon stand out in stark detail.

Mars is experiencing an increase in brightness throughout November and throughout winter, appearing late in the evening and climbing high into the sky.

Through a telescope, the planet will appear as a 90 per cent illuminated reddish-orange disk.

Having been faint all year, this brightness is caused by Mars catching up to Earth in its orbit, with it becoming steadily brighter in the sky all month, as it gets closer.

Currently moving eastwards, relative to our position on Earth, its motion will slow over the rest of the month before it reverses course due to what is known as retrograde motion on December 6.

By the end of 2024, Mars will shine brighter than most stars at -1.2 magnitude.

Since October 2023, the planet faded dramatically in brightness and disappeared in the glare of the sun and has been almost impossible to spot since.

Covering only 4,219 miles in diameter, only slightly more than half the size of Earth, often makes it difficult to spot but its extreme brightness and nearness to us make it an easier one to spot with the naked eye over the next few weeks.

If you missed it, there will be plenty more opportunities as it becomes more noticeable and will be at its brightest level in the last two years up until January 2025.