Did anybody follow the news on the asteroid last night? Or try to view it? My husband was out for quite a while with his telescope, but was unable to spot it.

Sorry he couldn't spot it! Clouds here prevented any observations. It was interesting to find out that apparently that little asteroid has a moon of its own.

So glad you were able to view Lovejoy again, stargazer. And I love unexpected celestial events, such as that bright fireball. What a very cool sight that would have been. Did others see it besides you, or by the time you called out for them to look, was it already gone?

Yeah, too bad Tom didn't spot it. Aside from today, we have had cloudy skies, so at my end we missed it. Of course, if it were clear, our youngest son is the one who is proficient with the telescope (I have yet to learn ), and he is at university, so we may have had trouble spotting it even if the skies were clear.

Here is an interesting article about the asteroid. /sharing after the fact

/edit on Thursday/ ...
skyand telescope just posted a "Bright Comet Prospects for 2015" article. Looks like some good observing ahead. Make you sure you have a decent pair of binoculars for those dark skies (they recommend 7 x 50).

I posted this on my FB page but I wanted to post it here too because it's just so unbelievably amazing, it's definitely worth sharing.

Makes me feel very, very small.

That is simply jaw-dropping incredible, fantasia. Wow!!! (to put it mildly ) Yes, watching this makes one feel very, very tiny indeed. May I just say again that the heavens sure do declare the glory of God over and over and over again (ad infinitum)!

We have lots of clouds coming up over the next week, so no stargazing for me here for at least a few days yet.

And I love unexpected celestial events, such as that bright fireball. What a very cool sight that would have been. Did others see it besides you, or by the time you called out for them to look, was it already gone?

That part is kind of funny. As it blazed through the sky all I could say was "Whoa! Whoa!" One of the two guys I was with turned in time to see its end but the other did not.

Skies have cleared here but Lovejoy would be quite a challenge, due to a big round bright thing in the area (the moon), the city lights, the comet being very high, and temperatures falling back below 0F/-17C. Clouds will return over the weekend, maybe even bringing snow.

We haven't spotted Comet Lovejoy since January, largely due to the weather (either cloudy or quite cold when it is clear). The comet has faded somewhat slower than predicted and may still be visible to the naked eye in dark conditions. It's moving northward, approaching Cassiopeia, and is now circumpolar (never sets) from my latitude (45N).

A sight that's much easier to see comes over the next few days, when bright Venus passes close to Mars in the southwest sky after sunset (as seen from the Northern Hemisphere). The two are within 2 degrees of each other for 9 days beginning February 17, and will come so close that dim Mars may be lost in the glare of blazing Venus (closest is 0.4 degrees on February 21. Read more here.

The Mrs., and I were road tripping to see the offspring at the University, and we caught a rather stunning view of Venus, Mars, and the crescent Moon. I will try to get her to show me how to put it on the machine here for you to see. I mentioned before I am still learning these gadgets for star shots so I hope it's not too bad.

Looking forward to seeing that shot, Puddleglum! Glad you got to see it.

I was clouded out for the close gathering of the Moon, Mars, and Venus last Friday, but did see the planets paired up the next night, with the moon now looking down on them from above. Very pretty!

The Sky and Telescope website has an article about the pleasures of keeping an observing journal. It doesn't have to be just astronomical stuff; it can include weather, personal or local events, anything you want. My own experience has shown me that reading past entries can help memories of special events (such as stargazing with NarniaWebbers) really come alive.

Ok. I have tried to do the copy/paste stuff with this gadget, but it's beyond my meager abilities Even the Mrs. says she cannot help So if anyone knows how to get a photo off a computers files, and on this page, please help

Puddleglum, it's probably best to post your pictures on a photo-hosting site like Photobucket, then link them here using the url tags.

Comet Lovejoy is closing in the constellation Cassiopeia right now and remains visible in binoculars. Due to the moon and clouds I haven't looked for it lately but will try it once the big round night light rises late enough (by next weekend) and if the clouds permit.

Announcing, about a week after that last post, that we (Ryadian's father and I) were successful in spotting Lovejoy in binoculars last evening. Its proximity to Delta Cas made it a fairly easy target despite city lights and trees in the foreground (it never sets here, but it's still pretty low in the sky around midnight). There is a map and more info here.

The 3rd in a series of 4 total lunar eclipses comes up in a few weeks, the morning before Easter (in the Americas). It's centered in the Pacific so those on the West Coast of North America (as well as New Zealand and the east half of Australia) are best situated. Even on the US west coast it sets around the time the last partial phase ends (on the east coast it sets before totality begins). There's a general visibility map here.

Unlike most total lunar eclipses, where totality can last an hour or more, this one last just minutes - 5 to 12 minutes depending on which definition you use. So it will look a lot like a really deep partial one.

The last in the series comes September 28 and is centered over the Atlantic.

Norway had a partial solar eclipse yesterday - north of the mainland, on the island of Svalbard, it was total, but down in Oslo it was only 90 %. (Shows some of the distance between those two places as well, doesn't it?)

At Svalbard the viewing conditions were good - in Oslo it was raining.

I was wondering if you'd had a chance to see it, Varna. Thanks for the comments.

The Twin Cities happens to be near the 90% coverage line for both the 1979 and 2017 total solar eclipses, but unlike this week's event it's fairly easy to drive to the line of totality. The 1979 event came in February and I remember a number of comments to the effect that towns in southern Manitoba were grateful for tens of thousands of tourists that eagerly came to the Canadian prairies in winter.

Clouds prevented viewing of the April 4 lunar eclipse, though lucky folks about 20 miles south of here caught pictures of it with the Space Needle.

There's also some debate about whether it was actually total or not (since the earth's atmosphere doesn't have a precise edge but gradually fades away, differences in how this fading is applied make a difference). Read more here. Ultimately, this is a rather specialized discussion for astronomers and theorists, though it would spoil the lunar eclipse tetrad currently in progress.

There's a brief chance to see a new satellite in the sky - the SpaceX Dragon CRS-6, which is currently on its way to restock the ISS. Heavens-above.com has predictions for it, and I saw it earlier this evening. It was surprisingly easy to see, even in fading twilight, though it came a bit earlier than predicted. It was chasing the ISS and moving noticeably faster than the station. It is scheduled to arrive at the ISS Friday, so viewing chances are limited. Still, it may be a fun thing to spot.