OTTAWA -- If the sky is clear tonight, look up and you'll see two special shows from outer space: one out-of-control spy satellite on its way to destruction and, for good measure, a total eclipse of the moon.

Both will be visible with the naked eye, although some of Canada will miss the dying spy satellite.

USA 193 has been in trouble since its launch in 2006. Ground controllers lost control of the satellite shortly after it reached orbit. Its design is secret.

It will appear in the sky above Greater Victoria about 6:06 p.m. Pacific time, in the south-southwest, and take nearly four minutes to travel across the southern sky and disappear in the east.

It won't be as bright here as it will be over parts of Central Canada -- more along the lines of a fairly run-of-the-mill star (technically, it is expected to check in at what astronomers call magnitude 2.7 on the brightness scale used to rate celestial objects).

If the sky is clear, though, it should be easily visible to the naked eye. You stand a better chance of seeing it if you get away from city lights. Look for a pinpoint of white light, moving steadily without sound or flashing lights.

Last February, it was at an altitude of nearly 360 kilometres -- about twice as high as the space shuttles fly -- but it was already slipping.

Today, it's in the 250-kilometre range. Re-entry would occur at about 100 kilometres, likely in late March.

A missile-firing U.S. warship may try to shoot it down before that, but not before tomorrow. That gives the shuttle Atlantis time to land today before any debris is scattered around the sky.

The moon, meanwhile, will have its last total eclipse tonight for nearly three years, and it's visible across North America.

The partial eclipse begins at 5:43 p.m. PT, but it's not much to look at early on. Some of the sun's light is still hitting the moon, and it doesn't look dramatic until the "total" phase begins at 7:01 p.m. PT. The most dramatic appearance should be in mid-eclipse, 7:26 p.m. PT.

The moon is to rise at 5:33 p.m. But since tonight's forecast calls for cloudy skies, it could turn out that neither the eclipse nor the satellite will be visible from Vancouver Island.