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Colorado Stargazing: Experience the Night connects several Colorado locations known for their dark skies and incredible stargazing opportunities. It also highlights dark-sky events and encourages the conservation and preservation of all of Colorado’s natural and cultural resources.
Among the locations below, visitors will find International Dark-Sky Association Designated Communities, areas just starting the designation process and everything in between. Regardless, all of these communities are unified by their high elevation and low humidity, allowing for some of the best stargazing in the world. A special thank you to the Colorado Tourism Office for their help in funding this project and the establishment of the Colorado Stargazing webpage. In the News: In rural Colorado, a growing push to preserve dark skies as artificial light spills out of cities: Proposed 3,000-square-mile Sangre de Cristo Dark Sky Reserve would be largest in the world! Greeley Tribune Video: Wet Mountain Valley |
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Creede
Photo credit: Terry Taddeucci
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Stargazing 2021
Mud Season is for Stargazing When: April 9th, 8:30pm-10:30pm Where: Airport Parking lot in Creede, CO. April is National Astronomy Month! It’s also International Dark Sky Week. Join local astronomer Terry Taddeucci and Headwaters Alliance for a Star Party at the airport parking lot at 8:30pm to look through telescopes and see the stars and Milky Way. Be prepared to be awed! Sponsored by Headwaters Alliance and the International Dark Sky Association. When: June 5th, 8:30pm Where: Ballfields in Creede, CO. Star Party! After the 6th annual Runoff Runoff Marathon, Half, and 6k Join local astronomer Terry Taddeucci and Headwaters Alliance for a Star Party at Ed Hargraves Park (ballfield) at 8:30pm to look through telescopes and see the stars, planets and Milky Way. Be prepared to be awed! August 12th Pleiades Meteor Shower watch party. Location and time TBD. News article published in the South Fork Tines Feb 2020 |
Crestone-Baca
Check out a full listing of events and happenings in Crestone: www.colorado.gov/pacific/townofcrestone
Cuchara
Check out a full listing of events and happenings in Cuchara at Spanish Peaks Country:
https://spanishpeakscountry.com/ Gardner
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
Check out a full listing of events and happenings in at the Dunes: https://www.nps.gov/grsa/planyourvisit/calendar.htm
Lake City
La Veta
Check out a full listing of events and happenings in Huerfano County: https://spanishpeakscountry.com/
Westcliffe/Silver Cliff
Check out a full listing of events and happenings in Westcliffe and Silver Cliff:
https://visitcustercounty.com/ |
Loving Our Dark Skies: Star Light, Star Bright
May 14th - 7:45 - 9:45pm on the 14th Opening Ceremony Experience the Night Hosted by Colorado College Baca Campus Mayor Kairina Danforth, Opening Remarks Shumei Crestone HIKARI TAIKO “Call to Gather, Invitation Drum” The Songbirds led by Jillian Ellzy “Calling the Stars” Patrick Moore “We Are Children of the Stars” Michael Tiernan “Songs Inspired by the Magic of Crestone Nights” Dr. Shane Burns, Professor of Physics & Astrophysicist presents a Guided Dark Sky Tour *Please bring lounge chairs, blankets, & binoculars!* May 15th - 9am - 9pm Loving Our Dark Skies Street Fest Looking for locations around Crestone for dark sky viewing check out the attached PDF: 
Events Pending:
Just one mile west of La Veta is the Southern Colorado Astronomical Park, a crossroads of ancient and modern astronomy, including a stone calendar and two observatory structures. The land on which the park sits was donated to the Southern Colorado Astronomical Society for the purposes of education, research, and enjoyment by all. 2021 Pending - Rocky Mountain Star Stare
Rocky Mountain Star Stare is an annual premiere star party sponsored by the Colorado Springs Astronomical Society. Located on 35 acres of land, RMSS's "Starry Meadows" is conveniently located just over two hours southwest of Colorado Springs (outside of Gardner, CO [in Spanish Peaks Country]), between the Sangre de Cristo and Wet mountain ranges, at an altitude of 7,600 feet above sea level. RMSS annually plays host to 300+ amateur and professional astronomers, family and friends. Learn more about the Star Stare @ rmss.org 
2021 - Astronomy - more details pending
Great Sand Dunes Annual Astronomy Event. Celebrate the beauty of the night with park staff and amateur astronomers! More details to come. Wednesdays at Windy Point: A Stargazing Program
(check with Lake City on availability due to COVID) Enjoy stargazing programs with local Lake City amateur astronomer Phillip Virden this summer. Programs will be held at Windy Point Overlook which is located approximately eight miles south of Lake City on Highway 149. The programs will take place on June 10, 24; July 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, and August 5 and 12. The approximate time will be from 8 pm to 10 pm. Each program will focus on a different aspect of the night sky – from viewing spectacular Saturn and Jupiter to the features and phases of the Moon to the summer constellations to deep sky objects to such events as the Perseid meteor shower and many other wonders of Lake City’s beautiful dark skies. Read more...
Southern Colorado Astronomical Park
Just one mile west of La Veta is the Southern Colorado Astronomical Park, a crossroads of ancient and modern astronomy, including a stone calendar and two observatory structures. The land on which the park sits was donated for the purposes of education, research, and enjoyment by all. Here, you can gaze upon the stars much like ancient astronomers did several thousand years ago or take a more modern approach by viewing Spanish Peaks Country’s phenomenal dark skies through a telescope. 2021 Dates - Livestream Virtual Star Party's:
April 13th May 13th June 14th July 12th August 12th September 5th October 8th Make it a date to enjoy a new moon Livestream Dark Sky Virtual Star Partys for the community of Westcliffe and Silver Cliff, Colorado. Experience a star-filled night sky and the Milky Way, even with the naked eye, the way it was meant to be seen. Make sure to to check out the updated listing of 2021 Public Star Parties or to book a private party at the Smokey Jack Observatory: https://www.darkskiescolorado.org/events 
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Here are some videos to help you with Astronomy and Dark Skies:
International Dark Sky Association's - Crash Course: Amateur Astronomy with Tracie Beuden
International Dark Sky Association's - Crash Course: Amateur Astronomy with Tracie Beuden
Interested in joining our Colorado Stargazing dark sky community? Drop us an email @ museumtrail.org@gmail.com
Looking to host a dark sky event? Drop us an email @ museumtrail.org@gmail.com
Would you like to have your town become certified with the International Dark Sky Association?
Check out their website @: https://www.darksky.org/
Looking to host a dark sky event? Drop us an email @ museumtrail.org@gmail.com
Would you like to have your town become certified with the International Dark Sky Association?
Check out their website @: https://www.darksky.org/
We'd like to thank and acknowledge our partners for their financial contribution, support and continued efforts with this project!
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