Time to look up!

Yep, after lusting through most of my childhood, finally got the new telescope I've been drooling over. Just in time for a good year, and heck....a good March. Birthday present from self to self...heh.

All five classic naked-eye planets will be visible later this month. Venus continues its dazzling display in the western sky reaching its highest evening elevation for 8 years (northern hemisphere). Jupiter in the east (at opposition) is at its brightest and biggest all year. A small telescope will easily show Jupiter's clouds and its 4 bright moons. Saturn's magnificent rings, just past maximum tilt open, are another easy target for small telescopes. Mars, the host of robotic explorers Spirit and Opportunity, appears as a tiny orange-colored dot even in large telescopes. Finally, elusive Mercury can be found below Venus in the later half of March -- its best evening display in 2004.