nb. some men are from Venus: My first ever view of Mercury (just next to Venus). #astrophotography

For the first time this evening I saw Mercury. Dr K was gazing out of the window enjoying the rich deep blue of the evening sky with silhouetted tree branches when we spotted the planet peaking out from behind a tree trunk. A quick check on Heavens Above revealed it to be Venus as expected, but also showed that there should be Mercury close by. I've never seen Mercury before so was keen to have a look. From our vantage point indoors we couldn't spot it, but just along the road there was a slither of sky free from trees and sure enough, just to the right of Venus was a smaller spot - Mercury. Dr K suggested it seemed redder than Venus, and is certainly an order of magnitude less bright. I nipped in to get my camera and captured these slightly shaky photos below. For an interesting listen regarding Venus then download the BBC Inside Science podcast which I was listening to just last night.