Posted by: @jo

I look forward to August 12 morning when these two planets [Jupiter and Venus] will be in close conjunction.

I do too! Here may be a good chance to see something pretty unusual: Jupiter in daylight. It's so close to Venus it may be possible to follow the pair after sunrise (especially with binoculars). I've managed to see Jupiter in daylight several times before, always using a "guide object" like this (usually the Moon, previously). (Unfortunately, I missed a good opportunity with last year's total solar eclipse due to some thin cirrus clouds nearby, though Venus remained brightly visible after totality).

August brings another opportunity: to see the dim planet Neptune in binoculars. (It's bright enough to be visible in them normally; the trick is usually distinguishing that faint speck from all the other stars visible). This time, it will be a little more than a degree north of Saturn on August 6 - well within the typical field of view of binoculars.  The pair will stay fairly close together all month. A good star chart will help you be sure it's Neptune and not some other object in view.

Saturn is not terribly bright at the moment, so it doesn't stand out like Venus or Jupiter. Currently it rises around 11 pm local daylight time for me; it is the rather lonely first-magnitude object in the southeast or south (for Northern Hemisphere viewers) after midnight.

Our wildfire smoke remains so thick that Saturn itself can be hard to find, so my chance to see either of these two events depends not only on lack of clouds but lack of smoke.

Morning stargazing has been at a premium here the past couple of weeks, between storms, smoke, and haze, but this morning I was able to step outside and see Venus about 3 degrees to the upper right of Jupiter. (They will be even closer tomorrow and Tuesday). I was also able to spot much of Orion for the first time this season.  It's always nice to see that constellation again.

This morning was the morning! Venus and Jupiter at 0.9° apart. Beautiful in the eastern sky. There were a number of heavy clouds in that direction, but thankfully the sky parted a few times to allow viewing of this lovely conjunction. (This was at 5:45 am.) Not long after, the sky cleared much more, so I was able to keep on spotting the two planets while I was watering the gardens. Then around 6:45 I looked up and could no longer see Jupiter, but there was Venus, dimming, but still visible about 20 minutes after the sun rose. 

Hoping to spot some Perseid meteors early tomorrow morning!  

Posted by: @stargazer

I was also able to spot much of Orion for the first time this season.  It's always nice to see that constellation again.

Very nice! Orion just may be my favourite constellation to see again. I have not yet spotted it, but no doubt that view will not be long in coming.  

EDIT Wed morning EDT: Sadly, no Perseid meteors were visible for us early this morning, as there were too much cloud cover. But the positive side of that is that we finally received some measurable rainfall last night, and while we need much more (possibly today), this was a decent start. But, go figure: we had two+ weeks of hardly a cloud, then the night of the Perseid peak, the sky is overcast.

Did anyone else see some Perseids?

This morning I was out walking (thankfully it was a good bit cooler than of late) about one hour before sunrise, so around 5:25 EDT. This is the day I have been awaiting—the first time I have seen that glorious dome of the night sky sparkling with stars and planets since early-mid May.  

Venus and Jupiter were glorious, with Jupiter above Venus, only a few degrees apart. To their left, I caught sight of Procyon, not very bright, before spying the two heads of Gemini, Pollux and Castor, then far above, Capella. Now, to the right of Jupiter and Venus, I was thrilled to spot, as @stargazer did, mighty Orion rising on its side in the east. I was really hoping to see Sirius below, but there was a good amount of haze on the horizon, which covered it. Soon enough it will glow in the pre-sunrise sky! And there, also, was Aldebaran, and a brief glimpse of the Pleiades, which faded away about 40 minutes before sunrise.

High in the south was the waning gibbous Moon, beautiful; also, what I think was Saturn. Then swooping around to the west was the huge Summer triangle, with Altair barely seen in the low western sky, but Vega still quite visible to the far right. And at the zenith of the sky was Cassiopeia.

I was surprised not to have spotted any Perseid meteors, as I was looking up and around constantly for a good half hour.

Aside from that disappointment, it was a joy to revel in the night sky again, and now I have nine months ahead of me, with increasing longer nights, to do so.  

Were you able to see any Perseids, @jo?  I did not; viewing was complicated by smoke, haze, clouds, rain, etc.

I also did not see the Jupiter-Venus conjunction at their closest (August 12). However, the next morning was clear, and I was able to see Venus, now about 1.4 degrees below Jupiter. I went out again around 6am local daylight time (in strong twilight) and pulled up a chair and waited for sunrise (at 6:13). I was able to track Venus until after sunrise with both binoculars and the unaided eye.  Binoculars were need for Jupiter after 6:07, but I was able to see it until 6:21, marking the fourth time I've seen Jupiter in daylight.

It is raining as I type this late Sunday evening, but the crickets remain very loud, a sign that we're past the peak of summer.

I did not see any Perseids, no. I think this is the first year in a long time I never spotted a one, in large part due to the overcast skies at the peak. Sorry they were hidden for you, too, stargazer.

Very nice re your views of Venus and Jupiter, lovely!

Yes, here the crickets have become very loud too (such a cool sound, especially as it heralds Autumn), and some get trapped in our garage, which we try to catch and release to the corn field behind us. They sure can get up a mighty volume, haha.

The past two mornings I have had stunning walks, starting under the night sky, with dawn just beginning to grow on the far eastern horizon. 

Jupiter and Venus continue to move apart in the eastern sky—always a beautiful sight—and the past two mornings I have spotted Mercury, hurrah! It is easy enough to see now, if one knows where to look. They are in not quite a straight (but close enough) diagonal line with Jupiter, Venus in the middle, then Mercury below. Regarding Mercury, it is helpful to have the markers of Jupiter and Venus pointing on a slant down to it. Because of that help, I was able to view Mercury until 20 minutes before the sun rose, but the last few minutes it was indeed tricky to see, especially if I looked away for a bit. 

Mighty Orion is rising higher in the SE sky, pointing down to Sirius, which points to Procyon further east, then to Gemini, in which Jupiter is snuggled. High above is Capella and Cassiopeia. Saturn is in the south, with the great square of Pegasus quite high toward the west. The giant summer triangle is gradually sinking in the NW, to the point where I cannot see Altair anymore (I spotted it last week, but it was dropping closer to the horizon); Vega and Deneb are still visible, as are the crossbar stars of the cross, although dimmer. 

I am so looking forward to the cooler, darker months ahead where stargazing is already becoming more readily accessible.