Later on the Rye

As noted in an earlier post, the sky above London was clear this morning, and remained clear all day. 

So later, around 5:20, I went out on the East side of the Rye and looked South West.  It took a while, as I had to wait for the sun to set properly.  Venus was already bright. and quite high up.

But eventually, below Venus and to the right (at an angle of about 25-30 degrees), a pale yellow dot appeared.

Mercury.

I'd never (knowingly) seen Mercury before today.  Wow!

Last September, on holiday with the family, we went to the Kielder dark sky observatory.  That was a similarly clear night, eventually.  A terrific night.  And through one of their telescopes I saw the Andromeda galaxy (M31).  Another first.  And lots of other nebulae too, a couple of the superior planets, and also some meteors.

But, in some ways, last night was even better.

It was at least equally cold, though.