... Follow the handle of the Big Dipper away from the dipper's bowl until you get to the handle's last bright star. ... In fact, 18th century cosmic tourist Charles Messier cataloged two of them; M8, the large nebula left of center, and colorful M20 on the right. ... What's that dark spot on planet Earth? ... The diminutive disk of Mercury, the solar system's innermost planet, spent about five hours crossing in front of the enormous solar disk in 2003, as viewed from the general vicinity of planet Earth...