Just read of the faint lunar eclipse tonight, Oct. 18. And it's the Full Hunter's Moon too!
" ... it should be easily visible to the naked eye as a dusky shading in the southern half of the Moon. The zone of visibility stretches from the eastern half of North America across Europe and Africa to western parts of Asia." (from spaceweather)
We have increasing cloud here now, but I'm still heading outside around 7:50 Eastern to see if I can catch a glimpse.

Stepped out this morning from my room at 0530 local time to look upon a half moon and Jupiter close by. Beautiful sky with a minimum of light pollution as the fire station is out in the middle-of-nowhere at the airport.

Missed the lunar eclipse the other day.

I happened to catch that same gathering of Jupiter and the Moon, ceppault, when I was out early Saturday morning.

Did you catch the eclipse, jo? It was cloudy here.

Saturday evening, I was enjoying a backyard campfire with friends. While the sky was mostly cloudy, we did happen to catch a respectable ISS pass through a large gap in the clouds.

And yesterday was a nice autumn day, so I took one more trip to a state park for fire and stargazing. The ISS passed high in the south this time (magnitude -3.0) shortly before haze and clouds moved in once again.

The days are rapidly growing shorter here in mid-northern latitudes; after we return to standard time this upcoming weekend sunset will be before 5 pm.

A fire stargazer? It must have been warm indeed!
I was thinking of doing the same here, especially after walking to the garage this morning. Nice, and clear, with Orion in all his glory. I will have to get the telescope out sometime soon, before I have to wear so much I won't be able to move.
The smoke from the fires out west must have cleared from the air because the sky definitly looks clearer to me.

Ahhh, beautiful, cep!

Did you catch the eclipse, jo?

It was cloudy here, but not enough to cover the entire sky. Plus, there was a brisk wind, so that through the breaks, I caught glimpses of the eclipse. It did seem very faint, indeed, though. Still, the sky was stunning with the stars and Moon interspersed with the spectacular cloud-cover.

we did happen to catch a respectable ISS pass through a large gap in the clouds.

Nice. That just looks so cool.

Nice, and clear, with Orion in all his glory.

Ah yes, I never cease to be amazed when I step outside for me walk about 5:30 a.m. and see that glories of the morning sky above, Orion taking front-and-centre stage! Awesome.

Wondering if anyone has been trying to catch a glimps of the comet that's supposed to be making a close pass behind the sun later this month? I think it's called ISON?
From what I have read thus far, it's supposed to be quite spectacular. Especially after it's pass.

I'm rather embarrassed to admit I've not tried to see ISON yet. A combination of its appearance in the wee hours, city lights, clouds, etc. offers a convenient excuse.

Astronomers are still uncertain exactly how bright it might get, especially after a few infamous duds like Kohoutek back in the 70s. There's even some debate about whether ISON will survive its close pass to the sun (which comes on US Thanksgiving, November 28), because it will be only 1.2 million km from the sun's surface - within the sun's Roche limit (the distance at which passing bodies break up or disintegrate). So it could disappear altogether, swallowed by the sun, or it could spread out into a spectacular string of glowing pearls when it reappears.

But earlier statements by the media that it could be as bright as the full moon are extremely unlikely to come to pass.

Until the last day, ISON has been rather disappointing in that it's not brightening as expected, and astronomers talked about Comet Lovejoy being easier to observe than ISON.

On November 14 ISON brightened by 2 magnitudes and is now on the edge of naked-eye visibility in a dark sky. But it's sinking fast as it approaches its date with the sun.

So, I just totally lost my post, which I had completed and was about to click on "Submit". Trying again ... *think, think, think*

Wondering if anyone has been trying to catch a glimps of the comet that's supposed to be making a close pass behind the sun later this month? I think it's called ISON?

I have not yet seen ISON, but if there are cloudless skies this weekend in the early hours, I hope to go over to a local schoolyard that offers a low and clear vista. And my search across the skies for Lovejoy in the pre-dawn hours of the past couple of mornings has been to no avail. I have focused on the border of Leo and Cancer, as mentioned in the S&T article. It's tricky looking at the night sky with binoculars, as when you are searching via those narrow tubes, there sure are not many references so it's "have I gone over this part before, or not?". Anywho, it's still fun, and I'd love to spot Lovejoy yet.

There's even some debate about whether ISON will survive its close pass to the sun (which comes on US Thanksgiving, November 28), because it will be only 1.2 million km from the sun's surface - within the sun's Roche limit (the distance at which passing bodies break up or disintegrate). So it could disappear altogether, swallowed by the sun, or it could spread out into a spectacular string of glowing pearls when it reappears.

Thanks for all this, as well as the links, 'gazer. And I certainly hope that instead of ISON vanishing completely, it will "spread out into a spectacular string of glowing pearls". Whoa, can you imagine that sight?!

Would these comets be visible from my house, Jo or Gazer (or anybody else in this thread who's been to my house) or are they too low in the horizon?

Anybody keeping an eye on sunspot AR1899? It's getting quite impressive. . . looking rather like a great big scar on the sun. I love how perfectly round it is. If it grows much larger, I might try having a gander at the sun to see if I can see it (with my UV light glasses provided by the ever gracious Johobbit )

Your house is surrounded by trees, so you'd have to venture out a bit to see low in the eastern sky, pre-dawn, for ISON. At the top of your driveway by the meadow, which direction is that beautiful vista? If it's east, that may be a good spot. Trying to recall where the sun rises. Lovejoy is higher up in the south. Here is another recent article on Sky&Telescope, which is so informative, as always. I have been using the comet chart maps to follow their paths. It seems that when I am able to get out early, there is always cloudcover; when I can't, it's clear. Tomorrow morning, however, there is a pretty good chance of no cloudy obstruction pre-dawn, so I will head over to that local school yard that provides a low view of the eastern sky. I just hope it's low enough. Will keep you posted!

As I recall, walking up your driveway past the trees gives a fairly good eastern vantage point, though there were a lot of lights. The tradeoff with ISON is that it will be brightest when lowest in the sky. It'll rise quickly day by day, becoming easier to see - except that it will be fading at the same time. So I suggest trying to find it as soon as possible after it passes the sun (assuming it survives).

My place in the Twin Cities would be a poor viewing spot. I'm contemplating other options out of town.

Thanks for that heads-up on the big sunspot, Digs. I'll have to dig my solar viewer out and wait for clear skies to try to see it.

The Leonid meteor shower - famous for some of the biggest meteor storms ever seen - peaks tonight, but radar-indicated rates are only about 10 per hour and the moon is big and bright and out just about all night (hey, I'm a poet ).

I knew there was something I forgot in my post ^. Today was as clear could be, and I was able to see the sunspot in my 'eclipse shades'. Extremely cool. I mean, hot.

Tonight on my walk, I found a piece of playground equipment I can climb to give me more of a vantage tomorrow morning. Still not sure if the roof of the school will be in the way. The school is set down in a large depression from the path, and is one storey, but if I can't see it there, I'm heading over a few miles where I know gives a vast view eastward. Trouble is, Toronto is also that way. Well, we shall we what we shall see.

I hope you can find a good viewing spot, stargazer!

Also on my walk this evening, I had stopped at that same schoolyard for a gaze up into the starkly clear, crisp night sky (glorious temps too, hovering just below the freezing mark) and to my delight I spied a Leonid. It was not one of those short meteors where you barely say "look!" and it's gone; it must have lasted a few seconds. ('Twas not a fireball, though.) Glorious! And then upon my return home, the brilliant moon was rising in the east through the naked trees. Ahhh, how I love that sight, except for the fact that it will affect meteor-viewing later on.

It appears I shall miss out on seeing the comet as I am surrounded by trees where I am at. The only possibility will be it's ( hopeful ) survival. I have a fairly good view of the S.W. even if it is facing the city lights.
Was out no to long ago, and unfortunatly saw nothing of the meteor shower. Though the moon is still very bright.

November is living up to its local billing as our cloudiest month, though I did catch an Iridium flare the other night. The sunspot was another story.

The local weather forecast doesn't look good for ISON's (hopeful) emergence from the solar glare this upcoming weekend. I'm still hoping to catch it and maybe show it to my nephew, who has stargazed with me in the past.

ISON is within the orbit of Mercury now and nearly impossible to spot from earth, but several satellites are keeping an eye on it. Mercury Messenger caught it passing the innermost planet and the Solar Dynamics Observatory and Stereo satellites are also monitoring its approach to the sun. Stereo-B is expected to watch the comet transit the sun near perihelion.

More details

Watched the news tonight, and looking in on the NASA site for the Mercury Messenger. Looks like ISON fizzled out when it started to get to close to the sun.
Too bad, I was starting to look forward to seeing it afterward.