What’s Up in Denver? February 10th through 16th, 2025

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Here’s a brief look at what’s going on in the Mile High City this week.

February 10:

Northern Lights at the Kline-Dodge Dark Sky Site
  • Possible Northern Lights! NOAA is forecasting a chance of G1 class geomagnetic storms with a stream of solar wind expected to impact the Earth’s magnetic field. Keep up to date with the forecast on the NOAA Aurora Dashboard.
  • Mars at northernmost declination (26.2°) at 11 AM. Mars appears furthest north from the celestial equator as viewed from Earth, essentially reaching its highest possible point in the northern sky due to its orbital inclination relative to Earth’s plane.
  • DAS Annual Meeting with the results of the Executive Board Officers and Trustees election. Additionally, Kyle Edson from Lockheed Martin will be presenting “Artemis RPOD: An Intentional Crash Course”: 7:00 PM at Regis University or on Zoom (more info).

February 11:

The Moon near M44 - created with Stellarium
The Moon near M44 – created with Stellarium
  • Astrophotography Special Interest Group (ASIG) – General Meeting: 7:00 PM (more info).
  • Look for the almost full Moon near the Beehive Cluster (M44) around 8:00PM.

February 12:

Photo by Ernest Wright/NASA
Photo by Ernest Wright/NASA

February 13:

Standley Like Stargazing
Standley Like Stargazing
  • Standley Lake Virtual Astronomy Program: 6:00 PM (more info).

February 14:

Photo by NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
Photo by NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
  • Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Venus, named after the Roman goddess of love, shows greatest illuminated extent (334 square arc seconds). Although the planet is in a crescent phase, it is brighter because it is closer to us.: 3:00 PM.
  • With a telescope, watch Ganymede slowly appear out of Jupiter’s shadow to the east: 7:56 PM.

February 15:

Planet Parade - created with Stellarium
Planet Parade – created with Stellarium
  • The Planet Parade continues into February with 6 of the planets in our solar system lined up across the ecliptic. Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn are visible to the naked eye just after sunset. A telescope is necessary to see the gas giants of Uranus and Neptune.

February 16:

The Moon and Spica - created with Stellarium
The Moon and Spica – created with Stellarium
  • Catch the Moon next to Spica in Virgo in the southeast around midnight.

This Week’s Meteoric Activity:

  • Anthelion (ANT): 1:00 AM local time in central Cancer: 3 per hour
  • Alpha Centaurids (ACE):5:00 AM local time in southeastern Centaurus: less than 1 per hour

Clear skies and happy stargazing!