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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 case on a cold winter night — the Milky Way can be admired in all its glory.
“If you can get away from bright city lights and light pollution, the Milky Way always looks cool, no matter where you are – desert, mountains, wherever,” said 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. 4-5 will mark the brightest super moon of 2025, 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 most reliable meteor showers of the year, peaks Dec. 13-14.
Colorado will also see a total lunar eclipse in the western sky on March 3, 2026, from 4:04 a.m. to 5:02 a.m., well before the sunrise at 6:29 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 actually 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 always that great,” Hranac said. “We often get the jet stream going overhead or nearby, and that can mess up (atmospheric) stability.”
Saturn will be visible for the next few months, Hranac said, 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.
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 said. “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 said. “But you look through binoculars, now you see all these stars. Be prepared to be blown away.”
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John Meyer
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