Venus and Mercury in Evening Sky

For the past three evenings I've managed to see these two planets low in the western sky shortly after sunset. Brilliant Venus has been the easier planet to spot. Dimmer Mercury has been between one and two degrees to the lower right of Venus.

Binoculars seem to be better suited for catching these two planets than a telescope. The sky has been too bright at prime observing time for Mercury to be seen with the unaided eye.

This evening I set up a small, 80mm f/5 refractor on the porch. Venus was easily visible, but trees blocked Mercury from view. From nearly the same location I managed to see both planets with 20x80 binoculars. This was primarily because my eye level with the binoculars was a little higher than the telescope -- just enough to bring Mercury above the trees.

On the previous two evenings I viewed the two planets with 8x42 binoculars as well as with the 20x80s. Mercury was easier to see with the 20x80s. Venus showed up easily with either pair of binoculars. Once I knew where to look, Venus could also be seen with the unaided eye.

On all three evenings I had to look thru thin clouds when observing Venus and Mercury. The clouds appeared to have formed near the time of sunset low in my western sky. They showed up as horizontal bands of varying thickness, but not thick enough to block the planets from view with binoculars.

Meanwhile, Jupiter shines brightly in the south-southeast. Jupiter and its brightest moons are not difficult to see with either tripod-mounted or steadily held binoculars.