This is a great week to look for the most visual challenging planet in our skies. Mercury which is near to impossible to spot for most of the year, is looking good in the weeks ahead. If you are outside tonight, just after sunset, you can find Mercury low in the southwestern sky.

We have the perfect guide for finding the planet. Mercury is right above the brighter planet Venus. Both are low in the southwest and only visible for a short time after sunset, before they set.

If you’ve never seen Mercury, this is a golden opportunity. Mercury spends its time so close to the glare, or in the glare of the sun. But it is different now. Mercury is about as high as it gets, away from the setting sun.

You’ll also notice that right above the two planets there is the Pleiades, a star cluster in the constellation Taurus. With the brightness of the skies, a pair of binoculars will help looking for all three.