Wow! I've seen a lot of different colored moons, usually whenever there's smoke in the air from some forest fire in the area. Sadly, it's becoming more common. In Seattle there was never anything like that prior to 2015.

Forest fire smoke certainly can color the Moon in usual ways. We've seen it frequently here in the Midwest as well.

The Moon certainly has been pretty lately, hasn't it @jo?  I was treated to its beauty last Friday evening, when I walked down the street to get a better view of Venus in the southwest.  A big bright round Moon caught my attention about 4 degrees high in the northeast.  It was a very pretty orange-yellow color, but it was also immersed in the Belt of Venus - that pinkish band sometimes visible to the east just after sunset.  After a few moments the Belt gradually faded away and the dark purple band below it (the shadow of the earth projected into space) rose up to surround the Moon - spectacular!

I did not know that pinkish band at twilight was called the Belt of Venus. Cool! And your viewing last Friday sounds really, really lovely, stargazer! I find such scenes challenging to describe in words that befit its beauty, but your description allowed me to picture this in my mind's eye.

We have not seen a clear night's sky for nearly four weeks now. Last night, however, there was a small break in the clouds near Mars for a short while, and while I was gazing at that planet near the end of my evening walk, I noticed a flash nearby (to Mars' left and a wee bit above). I watched carefully. Another flash. And then another. I have no doubt I was spotting the Starlink satellites. I have not seen them for a couple of years now, so it was really neat viewing them again.

The first occasion I saw them, they moved across the sky, one at a time, with about a 20 second break between each. The second, we saw a 'train' of lights traveling across the sky. Quite the sight! Last evening was more like my first time: one satellite every 12 seconds or so. Some flashed like an iridium flare; others were dimmer. A fun surprise!

EDIT early Sat. morning, Jan. 14: I am eager for my walk this evening. While it will be cold, for the first time in weeks it will be clear. The stars and planets will all have shifted, so I'm going to have to adjust myself to their new positions. Although, as noted a couple of times, I have briefly seen Mars, Jupiter, and the Moon now and then.

Tonight: sure enough, our first fully clear night in weeks, as I mentioned above. What an amazing treat. Many sights to see on high.

Four planets: Mars in the east; Jupiter high in the south, with the great square of Pegasus close by; Saturn in the SW; brilliant Venus in the WSW;

Cassiopeia at the zenith of the sky;

Orion haven risen majestically above the rim of the horizon, below Mars;

Capella on the same level as Mars, but to the north;

Cygnus and the Summer Triangle sinking in the west;

the Pleiades above Mars; Procyon rising above the horizon, with Gemini further up.

The temperature was around -10, with hardly any wind chill, snow crunching underfoot. A beautiful, crisp, invigorating night for walking ... and looking up!  

I think it is the week of January 23 when Mercury will be quite visible, lower down (as always) SE at dawn.

Has anybody seen the comet? We haven't tried yet, but we're hoping to soon. 

@fantasia, I just read Sky and Telescope's latest update on Comet ZTF and came here to post on it. Great minds...;)

I've not had a chance to look for it yet, between our urban light pollution and lengthy cloudy spells. Binoculars would definitely be required here in the city, though if it's magnitude 6.5 people with good vision in a truly dark area may be able to pick it out without optical aid. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing it.

It'll be circumpolar for the Northern Hemisphere late this month (moving over 6 degrees per day, a blistering apparent speed for comets).  It makes a couple of close passes to bright objects that should help us spot it: 1.5 degrees southwest of bright Capella on February 5 (unfortunately the Moon is full that night) and then 1.5 degrees northeast of Mars February 10 (with the Moon rising later).

Comet ZTF is performing along predicted lines, with magnitude estimates ranging from 4.2 to 5.0 (getting those estimates for a fuzzy, diffuse source like a comet is a little trickier than it is for point sources like stars, so the variance is not surprising).

Now it is moving quickly (by comet standards) through the northern sky, and is below Polaris, just past the line connecting the Big Dipper Pointers and Polaris. It's moving toward the bright star Capella. However, the Moon is growing toward full and will complicate things.

We've had a few nights lately with only a few clouds or some haze, but I haven't spotted the comet yet. The slightest haze, along with all the city lights, make it harder to find, and facing north to see it means the winter wind (or breeze) is blowing right at us. And with wind chills approaching -25F/-32C, it's a bit brisk.

In over 10 years of living in Britain, I have never once managed to be out on a night with a clear sky (rare over here at any time ) and minimal light pollution, so I still don't know one northern constellation from another. Except the last few weeks when I've come home from late shifts at work, I've seen Orion standing in the sky like an old friend — he's visible from Australia for a fair bit of the year (including summer, as it now is) and is one of the only two constellations I know how to recognise for certain, the other being (of course) the Southern Cross. And in less than two weeks' time, I will be back in Australia for a month, and for most of that time I'll be at my parents' house, where I grew up — which is in a relatively small town, and on a clear night, you can see SO MANY STARS. I will have to see if I can brush up on my southern constellations at last!! (And it will be nice to see the Moon the right way up again — in the south, it actually does look like he has a face. I genuinely believed in the Man in the Moon when I was very little! )

That trip Down Under sounds delightful, @courtenay! Have a safe and fun trip.

It brings to mind some experiences of seeing a truly dark sky after being in the city too long. And seeing a southern sky full of stars that I don't recognize - or old favorites in different positions - is definitely on my bucket list.

I have yet to see Comet ZTF; the full moon, city lights, and brisk temps are conspiring against me. But I hope to catch it as it passes by Capella or Mars over the next few nights.

We're in a warmer pattern (current temperature 16F/-9C) with variable clouds. Tonight was clear so Rya's father and I stepped out to look for Comet ZTF. Its latest reported magnitude is 5.5 (visible under dark skies), but from our suburban skies binoculars are a must.

It was high in the north-northwest, just northwest of the bright winter star Capella. Once we determined more precisely where to look, it was fairly easy to see at 10x50. It was "just" a fuzz ball, with no tail structure visible under our conditions, but seeing a comet is always exciting.

I'm looking forward to seeing it move rapidly south over the next few nights, passing near the Kids asterism in Auriga and then close to bright Mars around February 11.

Clear skies and good luck in hunting it!

Wonderful, @stargazer! So glad you were able to spot it.

I think I saw the comet last night, through binoculars. Not absolutely sure, but since it was one of the few clear nights we have had in a couple of months, I stayed out after my walk to try.  Then, to my surprise, as I was looking up toward Capella, a string of Starlink satellites came into view in a long row (finger width in between each at arm's length). And the sky, itself, was aglow, with brilliant Venus sinking into the west; shining Jupiter still high, but following suit; Sirius bright in the SW, with Orion hanging above it; Procyon on the way to Gemini; ruddy Mars, Aldebaran, and the Pleiades high in the SE, among others.   And then, the huge just-past-full Snow Moon, which was very orange, rising in the eastern sky. I saw it plainly at times, then behind tall evergreens, as well as through the naked deciduous tree branches - a beeaaaauuutiful sight, as always.

Tonight I definitely know I spotted Comet ZTF! Through binoculars. The sky is perfectly clear this evening - one of the small handful of clear evenings we have had in weeks. Mars was the pointer/reference, and there it was, a bit below that red planet. Quite the fuzzball. Exciting! Always a treat to view a comet! It is fairly cold, so I keep popping out from time-to-time, just to see it again.  

Glad you got to see the comet, Jo!

After our viewing last Sunday evening, I tried looking for it the next several nights, but never saw it for certain (there are some obstacles here, such as its very high altitude much of the night and a large maple tree that obscures a large part of the sky, even without leaves).

However, we've stepped out shortly after midnight the past few nights (in the relatively narrow window of time when it is not covered by the maple tree or the trees to the west). Rya's dad and I have seen it the past few nights as it approached and then passed Mars. (Fun trivia note: early this morning, we used a magnitude 4 star near Mars as the guidepost as the comet moves between Mars and Aldebaran. That star's Bayer designation is Tau Tauri. Using the usual abbreviation, that makes it Tau Tau ).

Really good that you have had some clear nights lately, too, stargazer.  

Along with spotting the comet the past three nights just after suppertime (not far from Mars), it was also a treat to see the Starlink satellites passing by Gemini on my Sunday evening walk. This time the grouping was not like a train, but rather periodic (every 10-15 seconds), but the fun bit was that as they came into view, each one flashed (reminding me of the Iridium flares) and then disappeared before the next satellite made its appearance. I counted nearly 30.

This is the most clear skies in a row (three!) we have had since last Autumn, and I have been thoroughly enjoying acquainting myself with the night sky again. Many of the ol' favourites are there on my morning walk, but especially in the evening. And two evenings ago, I saw a meteor streaking from west to east, high up.

The half Moon this morning was a beauty, as was Cygnus, the Summer Triangle, and Scorpius in the SE. The Moon was right where it shows here in the picture from Sky&Telescope: a very pretty and cool sight!

Your posts are always fun to read, @jo. You've really had a cloudy stretch of weather!

I happened to step out early Monday evening to enjoy the view of Venus and Jupiter gradually closing in on each other, when I noticed what looked like a contrail to the upper left of Jupiter. It was about 20 degrees long and moving to the northeast. I was pleasantly surprised to realize it was a Starlink parade (which I haven't seen since 2020), but in this one they weren't spread out much at all (they were launched the night before and were still close together). They were irregularly spaced in clumps, so tightly packed I couldn't begin to count them (later I checked online predictions and they indicated 55 satellites were in this group). They brightened to about magnitude 0.5 and remained in formation as they moved through Orion (now in the southeast), and faded out, one by one, as they neared Procyon. It was pretty exciting to see!

Last night (Wednesday), I checked the predictions beforehand and hoped to see the same grouping, but this time saw nothing at all.