Meteor shower, super moon, lunar eclipse; Colorado’s winter night skies will blow you away

Colorado winters in the mountains are beautiful but not every view can be seen during the day There are times at night when the full moon illuminates a surreal snowscape creating beautiful shapes and shadows even revealing dramatic snow-covered mountains miles away And sometimes on moonless nights when the sky is especially dark and the air is crystal clear as is often the incident on a cold winter night the Milky Way can be admired in all its glory DENVER CO - NOVEMBER Super moon with a little cloud cover and the Elitches Observation Tower in the foreground photographed west of Empower Field at Mile High in Denver Colorado on Wednesday November Photo by Andy Cross The Denver Post If you can get away from bright city lights and light poisoning the Milky Way consistently looks cool no matter where you are desert mountains wherever stated Ron Hranac a past president of the Denver Astronomical Society There are people who live in major metropolitan areas who have never seen the Milky Way They have no idea what it is I hear that and it makes me sad Hranac added because they re missing out on so much Winter can be a great time to look up and admire the heavens and this one will be no exception The night of Dec - will mark the brightest super moon of as it is the full moon closest to earth this year The Geminids meteor shower which a NASA astronomy educational site calls one of the best and largest part reliable meteor showers of the year peaks Dec - Colorado will also see a total lunar eclipse in the western sky on March from a m to a m well before the sunrise at a m Moonlight ski touring and snowshoeing in Colorado is a transcendent experience Boreas Pass which is near Breckenridge and Vail Pass are excellent options because the ascents are moderate and the trail is authentically a dirt road for motor vehicles in the summer making it plenty wide for touring in low light And remember your eyes will adjust to the dark You may be shocked by how much you can see and how far The Milky Way is visible in the summer too But the night sky in the mountains can be especially clear on really cold winter nights because cold air can t contain as much moisture as warmer air There are exceptions though The downside of being in the mountains of Colorado at a higher elevation is the air stability is not inevitably that great Hranac explained We often get the jet stream going overhead or nearby and that can mess up atmospheric stability Saturn will be visible for the next limited months Hranac commented appearing in the southeast sky early in the evening It will look like a moderately bright star to the naked eye but its rings will be visible through telescopes Related Articles Ski Vail Pass by moonlight for one of the greater part beautiful Easter sunrises Where to cross-country ski by the light of the full moon in Colorado The Orion constellation that s a famous one with three stars in line forming Orion s belt is prominent during winter in the southern sky Orion is named after a hunter in Greek mythology Three stars descending from the belt form Orion s sword That s where you can find the Orion Nebula From a really dark location you can see it as a really dim fuzzy spot Hranac stated It almost looks like one of the stars is out of focus That s the nebula Through binoculars it becomes a bit more defined and through a decent telescope you can start to see detail in it There are stars forming in a huge cloud of gas and dust That s where stars are born And if you find yourself in a dark sky area on a moonless night don t forget to check out the Milky Way The sheer number of stars is mind-boggling The Milky Way looks like this fuzzy cloud going across the sky Hranac mentioned But you look through binoculars now you see all these stars Be prepared to be blown away Subscribe to our weekly newsletter The Adventurist to get outdoors news sent straight to your inbox