For almost 20 years now, watching for Iridium flares - that very brief, very bright flash of light from the communications satellites - has been part of stargazing. They're fun to watch and give another chance to show the sky to others.

But it appears that these will be going away in about 18 months with the arrival of the next generation of Iridium satellites. Read more here: Get your Iridium fix before it's too late.

Gymmie and David West, those photos on the previous page are beyond amazing! *is in awe* What celestial glory!

Well, well, that news about Iridium flares is quite disappointing. It was you, stargazer, who introduced me to these, and I have had regular viewing over the years, to my great delight. The anticipation of a flare, then seeing who could be first to view it in the sky as it starts quite dimly, then the brightness of the brief flash ... I'm really going to miss these. Ah well, I shall try to get as many in as I can over the next 18 months. Thanks for the heads up, for sure!

So I guess there's a partial lunar eclipse and a comet this weekend? Gazer, do you have any more info?

The eclipse comes Friday evening, around sunset for North American viewers, so from your location the moon will be rather low (about 7 degrees high in the east) at mid-eclipse (6:44 pm local time). Technically this is a penumbral eclipse, meaning that the moon never enters the darker part of the earth's shadow and so it is noticeably dimmed rather than looking like part of it is missing. Still, it should be worth looking at if conditions permit. (the eclipse ends at 8:55 pm your time but the shadow will be invisible before that). Read all about it here.

The comet will be more of a challenge thanks to the Moon. It's a morning object now, a magnitude 8 fuzzball that will require binoculars and a pretty good idea of just where to look. This article has descriptions of what to look for and charts showing where to look. This comet is passing so close this weekend (7.7 million miles) that it's moving quite fast. It's in southern Hercules this weekend, so it won't rise until after midnight and won't be very high before about 3 am.

Our sky was clear this morning, but the clouds arrived this afternoon just as forecast. There was an opening in the clouds around 7pm tonight, so I was able to catch a short glimpse of the eclipse just after its peak.

Anyone else get to see it?

I did. It was soooo gorgeous with the high clouds that surrounded it. I wish I had my good camera on me, but we were out running errands. On the other hand, I probably wouldn't have had as good of a view if we weren't out running errands.

Little Mercury is putting on its best evening show of the year for those of us in mid-northern latitudes. It's all by itself low in the western sky around 8.15 pm local time, fairly easy to spot if you have a clear view in that direction. Read more here.

Was near Isle Mann. Last weekend for a rendezvous. Got up around 2:30 as usual to check the outhouse door, and discovered a beautiful clear sky. The Milky Way was clear, and sharp, as were the constellations. The ISS passed over somewhere near the southeast, but not two minutes later I am sure I saw another bright object pass on a more northern route Is there something else up there I am missing? I also was able to track a very blurry object for a little while, but eventually lost it as it also was headed a NNW path.
Add one shooting star, and it made for a chilly, yet satisfying late night stroll.

Sounds like a wonderful time, Puddleglum!

Satellites other than the ISS are often visible, with the brightest being the brief but spectacular Iridium flares. The Chinese space stations Tiangong 1 and 2 are also often visible, and while dimmer than the ISS they can be brighter than online predictions indicate.

There are a variety of online sites for satellite predictions and identification, but the one I use most is http://www.heavens-above.com . You'll need to enter your location (city-level is adequate though Iridium flares are extremely sensitive to location).

I am starting to look forward to the big eclipse. I even talked the boss into giving me the day off. Now all it takes is the old marsh-wiggle luck to kick in, storm clouds, called back to work, health, etc.
Before I forget. I was pricing out a spare lens for a welding mask, so I could have something safe to look at the event without frying my retina. Does anyone have a suggestion as to some kind of rating system these things have

Puddleglum, back in the old days they'd recommend #14 welder's glasses.

Now, eclipse viewing glasses are readily available from sites like amazon and skyandtelescope.com. The rating to look for on these or any glasses is ISO12312-2-2015 (with or without the 2015).

Do enjoy your eclipse. There is no chance I could ever get to see this eclipse in Missouri, but the resident Astronomer tells me that there is a partial lunar eclipse visible from here, tonight or very early in the morning.

You're right, wagga, there is a small partial lunar eclipse tonight for your part of the world. It's the partner to the solar eclipse in two weeks (they come in pairs, or occasionally triplets, thanks to orbital geometry).

I just was out under that big bright full moon for an excellent pass of the ISS. My observing site is a small hill in a park just west of the apartment, and tonight I had the pleasure of showing the station, along with Jupiter, Saturn, and a few bright stars, to a couple other people there enjoying the evening.

The Perseid meteor shower (so-named because they appear to come from the direction of the constellation Perseus) are at their annual peak tonight, and seem to be getting a lot of extra media attention thanks to the upcoming eclipse.

Perseus rises in the northeast around midnight, so the shower is best after the radiant is higher in the sky. Good years can provide up to 80 meteors/hour but the bright moon will compromise that this year.

I heard about the meteor shower. Unfortunatly the Mrs. and I will be to far gone in the dreamworld to see it.
I just recently was able to get a welder's lens. A #12. I know you recommend #14, but my selection is sadly limited. I was wondering stargazer. have you ever tried observing the surface of the sun through the telescope? If I were to set the lens on the front lens of mine, and set a white paper on the ground would that work