I took the telescope out the front of the house this evening, because Jupiter and Mercury were brightly visible in the northwest just after sundown. I had no idea Mercury appeared that far from the sun. I thought I’d never actually seen Mercury before, but now I suspect I have and just didn’t realize it. Anyway, this was the first time I’d pointed the scope at it. I am pleased to announce that with the 9mm Plossl eyepiece, we could resolve Mercury’s disk – at least, the half that was lit up by the sun. Fabulous. (Check out http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/space/05/16/mercury.rising/index.html for more info on this).