Naked eye observation of Mercury possible for those interested. Look left of the setting sun for the next few days for a chance sighting. Obviously you will need a clear view of the western horizon and this will be the last eastern elongation for the year.
There will be a western elongation this year in November but you will need a clear view of the eastern horizon before the sun rises.

On a side note, Messenger’s first flyby of Mercury will be this January 2008.

For you hardcore astronomers inspired by the Dawn launch, Vesta will be about 3 degrees to the upper left of Jupiter tonight at 6 plus mag. (in the low western sky) with Pluto 8 degrees above Vesta. With Pluto at 14 plus mag. it’s a hard catch at 30 degrees, unless you are blessed with real dark skies.

Anyway, a good weekend for a reason to checkout the sunset.