And now, for something completely different

Tired of watching Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and the other same old ordinary star stuff? How about something new and exciting, something seen rarely and briefly?

How about grabbing a glance at the first planet out from the Sun -- the swift, elusive planet Mercury?

Starting this week, Mercury makes its greatest appearances of the year, showing up in the evening sky about 45-minutes to an hour after sunset on these warming spring evening.

Mercury is named after the fleet-footed messenger of the gods, you know, the guy who had wings on his heels. Mercury's orbital period -- the time it takes to go around the Sun -- is only 88 days long. It makes generally three morning and evening appearances each per year.

Mercury is now officially the smallest planet in the solar system since Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet status last year. Ancient astronomers once thought Mercury was two planets from its appearance in the morning and evening sky at different times. It was Pythagoras, a fifth century B.C. mathematician, who pointed out that it was really one planet orbiting the Sun making appearances in the morning and evening Earth sky on each side of its orbit. You know Pythagoras -- the guy who's theorem gave us all such fits in geometry class in high school. Same guy.

Tomorrow night, Wednesday, April 30, take your binoculars out about a half-hour to 45-minutes after sunset and look to the west for the only bright object there; that is the planet Mercury. If you look up and to the right you will find the nice little star cluster of the Pleiades. Be sure your horizon is free from any trees or buildings that might otherwise block the view. Clouds or haze low on the horizon might also present a problem to viewing.

Go out each evening and watch as Mercury gains altitude above the horizon; as it does so, it draws closer to and then passes the Pleiades. On the evening of May 6, you will see the very, very slender crescent of a one-day old

m­oon above and to the right of the planet. Binoculars will help, and will probably be essential.

Mercury will continue to gain altitude but loose brightness as the days progress; about May 14 it will be as high above the western horizon as it is going to get. It will then quickly dart towards the horizon and exit the sky altogether by the end of the month.

Mercury had a lot of attention in November of 2006 when it did something else rare. It transited, or crossed in front of, the Sun's disk -- an event that takes place about 13 times per century. A transit will happen again on May 9, 2016, so mark your calendars

SKY WATCH: The parade of setting winter stars in the west continues as the stars of summer start to make their appearances in the east earlier and earlier. Before too long those summertime stars will be appearing in the early evening skies along with the king of the planets, Jupiter. Saturn and Mars are still the obvious choice of early evening observers; Mars is found high in the west, with Saturn showing high in the south near Regulus, Leo's heart.

Next time: More astronomical blathering.