I’ve never seen Mercury much. Can you say you’ve seen Mercury during a transit? You’re looking at a silhouette, rather than the planet, I suppose. But it is Mercury, so you can tick it off.
Transits aside, I saw Mercury in 2006 during a solar eclipse. That was pretty cool.
But this week Mercury has been higher than ever in the west just after sunset. There’s an excellent field near Albrighton with an open gate that I visit if I want a low west horizon, (the other spot is a hill near Halfpenny Green. Both good for parking and low light pollution).
So here’s a lunar slither, and a Venusian photo though my 4″ Skywatcher, and a landscape shot, further labelled. It was a lovely evening, nice and warm, and watching the sunset was calming and oddly nourishing in these times of strangeness. The Earth spins regardless of anything.
Venus 24th May 2020
I Need my Space 