Cool time-lapse video
 

5.5 hr. time-lapse of Mercury orbiting the Sun :cool:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/nasa-spacecraft-captures-incredible-images-of-mercury-skimming-the-sun-200507083.html

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0yNzSwlnQ2Q" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I really wanted to watch that on Mon.

Sat and Sun the skies were crystal clear. Mon from morning until tue was completely overcast.

The last time this occurred for Venus, I was in FL and had the same issue.

Thanks for posting the video!

How can Mercury look like anything other than a charcoal briquette? (except round)

When I was involved with our Astronomy club I managed to see all the planets and Pluto was still a planet back then. One of the members has a 21 inch mirror telescope and lives in a very dark area. Mercury was just next to the sun, and a challenge to see. The rest of the inner planets are a cinch to see but Neptune and Pluto are a challenge. Just a faint blob is all we saw.

Earth is the easiest one to see, just look down. :p

Fortunately, most of the planets are bright enough that light pollution isn't as big a deal is it is for things like nebula, galaxies and globular clusters. Using my 8" Newt on a Dobsonian base in a suburb of Houston with tons of light pollution, I have seen the "canals" and ice caps of Mars, Venus and it's phases, Saturn with bands and rings and moons (but never observed at the right time to see the Cassini division), Jupiter and moons and the Great Red Spot (IIRC, it looks white) and bands and I know I've seen at least one of the two outer planets, but I can't remember which. I assume it was probably Uranus. I'm pretty sure that I've seen Eris (Eris is the most massive and second-largest dwarf planet known in the Solar System) too.

So, I need to hit Mercury, Neptune and Pluto (because it'll always be the ninth planet to me ;) ).

Mercury will always be at sunset, or sunrise. And not often. Obviously it has to be just to one side or the other of the sun. And it is really close!

Yep, and darn hard to see since the sky is always going to be getting brighter or dimming down, but never actually dark.

That's why I was really looking forward to this as it was my best chance. I think the next is is many years away.