In late 2006, we were treated to a very nice trio of planets low in morning twilight, in fact so low that it was difficult to photograph.  Jupiter and Mercury were lined up vertically near Graffias, β Scorpii, with Mars off to their right, just on the south side of the ecliptic.  In this photo made with a 200 mm lens, we see Jupiter at magnitude -1.75, Mars is +1.54, and Mercury is magnitude -0.59, with a separation of only 19'42" between Jupiter and Mercury.  Unannotated image