Mercury (planet) at a steep angle. Mercury is 10° above the horizon when the planet appears directly above the Sun (i.e. its orbit appears vertical) and is at maximum elongation from the Sun (28°) and also when the Sun is 18° below the horizon, so the sky is just completely dark. This angle is the maximum altitude at which Mercury is visible in a completely dark sky. At middle latitudes, Mercury is more often and easily visible from the Southern Hemisphere than from the Northern. This is because Mercury's maximum western elongation occurs only during early autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, whereas
The Nearest Thing to Heaven by Alan Galbraith, and was the one that became the hit. This single followed his previous release, the Bernie Allen arranged "Helena", which even though a gold disc entry, wasn't a hit. The September 7, 1974 issue of "Billboard" recorded the song at #10, just behind George McCrae's "Rock Your Baby" at #9 and with Paper Lace's "The Night Chicago Died" at #1. That was the highest position it got to. The song stayed in the charts for 9 weeks. Walters didn't have any more chart hits after that. The Nearest Thing to Heaven The Nearest Thing To Heaven was