The fall weather may be appealing, but the gloomy skies the past couple of days haven’t really helped anyone looking up for Comet Hartley 2, which made it’s closest pass yesterday. It’s still pretty darn close (just 11 million miles away!), so if the skies clear up you can find the icy comet to the left of Taurus in the constellation Auriga, starting a little after 10 p.m. Meanwhile, NASA’s Deep Impact probe, on its EPOXI mission we discussed last week, ventures closer to Hartley every day, preparing for its fly-by on November 4.

Iwo Jima Memorial and Orion, where we should be able to spot some Orionids flashing through the sky this week. Image by Samer Farha. The news isn’t good for stargazers this weekend. Both events we mentioned last weekend, the National Capital Astronomers “Exploring the Sky” in Rock Creek Park and NOVAC’s 27th Annual Star Gaze, are certainly going to be rained out. We’ll let you know if the annual Star Gaze is rescheduled. Let’s…