Okay Space Cadets ... here's your assignment for tonight. Our long nightmare of endless overcast is over, and the planet Mercury is making one of its best appearances of the year. I want you all out there after sunset tonight to look for it.

It can be tricky. This is no project for the easily discouraged stargazer (or, in my case, Stargeezer). Mercury is the nearest planet to the sun, so it never strays far from the glare of Old Sol. When we see it at all, it is shortly before sunrise, or shortly after sunset.

Throw in air pollution and clouds, which can obscure the view low on the eastern or western horizon, and the trees and buildings that often block our view, and catching a glimpse of Mercury can be difficult. That's why the planet is so often described here as "the elusive" planet Mercury. Here's how Mercury looked on Friday when a very young crescent moon moved in alongside it.

But my Clear Sky Alarm went off this morning, indicating favorable viewing conditions this evening around Baltimore. So I will be out there to get another firsthand look at the planet that scientists at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab have ben studying with NASA's Messenger spacecraft.

Find a spot with a clear view of the western sky, with as little clutter - trees, garages, hills - on the horizon as possible. Look for a small, steady, star-like point of light hovering over the horizon. Here's an article from Sky & Telescope, with a sky map (below) to guide you.

Take the kids. Take a pair of binoculars. The kids and their sharp eyes will help you spot it. The binoculars will get you a little closer. 

Oh, and while you're out there, raise your eyes a little higher and find Mars, Pollux and Castor (the two bright stars in Gemini) all in a row, left to right, above the southwestern horizon. Mars will be in the news in two weeks as NASA attempts to land the Phoenix spacecraft in the Martian arctic to search for water. 

Then turn left a bit toward the south and look for a close pair of "stars." The brighter of the two is actually Saturn, where NASA's Cassini spacecraft continues to orbit and send back spectacular images of the ringed planet and its moons. The dimmer of the pair is Regulus, the bright star in the Constellation Leo.

When you're done, come back here, leave us a comment and share the experience. Good luck!