On Thursday, February 7, 2019 at 10:04:49 AM UTC-8, Paul Schlyter wrote:
On Thu, 07 Feb 2019 07:13:55 -0700, Chris L Peterson
wrote:
FWIW, I normally play these observation games near the middle of the
day. An hour after sunrise or before sunset would probably boost the
chances of seeing something.

If so, your success in seeing Mars near noon is impressive, because
Mars must then be nearer the Sun than about 90 degrees to be above
the horizon at noon, and then Mars will be fainter than Arcturus.

I consider Venus fairly easy and have seen it with my unaided eye many times - I am at roughly 45 deg N lat. It is easiest to do if you find Venus just before sunrise, so you know the angular separation from the Sun. You then know where to look later in the day.

Jupiter is very difficult, at least for me, but I have seen it a couple of times.

In theory, Mars is supposedly rarely visible, but I have never tried.