VIEWING PLANETS

Looking at the night Sky :

To see planets close to the horizon just after sunset, you need to wait until Nautical Twilight

Nautical twilight :

The center of the sun.

is geometrically 12 degrees below the horizon. You can still make out shapes and outlines, but too dark to walk or drive without artificial light. You can still see the horizon, esp in west. Dark enough for old time mariners to make calculations. Viewing planet near the sun, you may need to wait until nautical twilight for sky to be dark enough. Mercury or other planets or other planets are more likely to be visible at Nautical Twilight - don't wait too long, since they will set very quickly after that.

Find Distances with Fingers

Held at arm's length, your pinky finger is about 1 degree wide. Your three middle fingers, held together, are about 5 degrees wide. If you hold out your fist, it will measure a 10 degree width of the sky. If you hold up just your pointer finger and your pinky finger, it will be about 15 degrees of sky between them. If you spread the thumb and pinky of one hand as far apart as they will go, it will be about 25 degrees from outside edge to outside edge.

This method of finding distance of planets with fingers is similar to Mudras which are given by Aryans.