It might still be cold and crisp outside, but head to an elevated spot with fish and chips (or pizza, or burgers ….) by 6pm. While its available just after sunset and before it sets, look 5 deg. above the WNW to sight Venus, it should be obvious being the brightest planet and comparable to even the brightest star in the night sky, make a wish.
Now, pull out the binoculars and quickly move your gaze upwards to 20 deg. above the WNW vista and hopefully also sight the piercing white dot that defines Mercury whose planetary temperatures vary between a chilly -170 deg. C to an instant egg sizzling 427 deg. C; but still cooler than Venus which gets to a, slap- a-prawn on the BBQ, 470 deg. C.
All this talking about food is making me hungry
We now need to wait until 10pm to see the final evening “wild sheep”, as the Babylonians called them due to their wanderings, Saturn, siting 10 deg. above the eastern horizon.
Flipping to morning viewing starting around 5am, one should have no issue identifying the red planet Mars 20 deg. sitting above the NE and bejeweled Jupiter resplendent 10 deg. slightly more east.
The Moon is full on Sunday at 6.17pm and on Wednesday at perigee (closest to the Earth) when it will be at a distance equivalent to just over 9 around the world trips and just remember, International Moon Day is today marking the anniversary of the first landing on the Moon in Apollo 11.
Dr Craig Bowers MP8138.
All night sky screenshots are courtesy of Stellarium planetarium
Zotti, G., Hoffmann, S. M., Wolf, A., Chéreau, F., & Chéreau, G. (2021). The Simulated Sky: Stellarium for Cultural Astronomy Research. Journal of Skyscape Archaeology, 6(2), 221–258. https://doi.org/10.1558/jsa.17822
Astronomy West 
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