With Appreciation to Marsha Robinson:
Thanks for your "directions" to Mercury. I've been trying to spot it, on and off, for over 20 years, and finally succeeded last night, mostly because of your directions.
I was driving north on 280 around sunset Wednesday night to meet my dinner date in San Francisco. Venus was a brilliant headlight in the western sky, and I thought my chances were excellent to finally see Mercury (since my date lives near the beach). After asking her to humor me, we quickly drove to the beach for an unobstructed view of the sky down to the horizon.
As twilight faded, and Jupiter and Saturn appeared, I started scanning for Mercury. The clouds on the horizon parted, and there was this red-orange light at 4:00 from Jupiter. Bingo!
Sitting in my car (to shield us from ferocious winds!), we spent the next 45 minutes watching the four planets -- Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. I pulled out my binoculars and discovered that an open moon roof and reclining seats made for a comfortable, shielded view of the Pleiades, Taurus and assorted bits of Orion.
A few hours later, while driving south on 280, I saw the mostly-full moon high above the east bay hills. When I could safely spare a long glance, I saw the "hare in the moon". It's rather obvious when you know to look for it.
Back at home, I walked across the street and looked eastward to see Mars rising. Just delightful. A beautiful sight in binoculars.
So, in one evening, I managed to see all six naked-eye planets (counting the Earth!) and the moon. It's funny how simple things like seeing a necklace of planets across the sky helps to renew my enthusiasm for this hobby.
Regards,
Michael Siladi
(A TAC "bystander" and occasional contributor.)
P.S. My thanks also to David Kingsley for suggesting "Star Pilot". It's a great tool to help confirm what I'm looking at in the sky (since my PalmPilot is always in my coat pocket!)