What’s Up in Denver? January 19th through 25th, 2026

by Editor on January 18, 2026 with No Comments

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

January 19 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day):

Celebrating the legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 20:

Catch Jupiter within half a degree of Wasat: Delta Geminorum, the third-brightes star in the constellation Gemini, is a bright triple star system whose name means “middle” in Arabic, reflecting its position in the middle of the body of the eastern twin, Pollux: Find it and the gas giant in the eastern sky just after sunset.

January 21:

DAS Astrophotography Special Interest Group (ASIG) – Advanced Image Processing: Online over Zoom (check membership email or Slack for details): 7:00 PM
Mercury reaches superior conjunction: our smallest planet passes on the far side of the Sun from Earth and is hidden in the Sun’s glare, making it unobservable as it transitions from the morning sky to the evening sky: 9:00 AM

January 22:

Standley Lake Stargazing (virtual program): Free Online program via Zoom: 6:00PM
Venus reaches aphelion, the evening star is at the farthest point in its orbit from the Sun, slightly increasing its distance and causing a small decrease in its apparent size and brightness as seen from Earth: 1:00 PM
The waxing crescent Snow Moon reaches ascending node, when it crosses the ecliptic plane from south to north—the point in its orbit that begins the portion of the lunar path north of Earth’s orbital plane: 5:03 PM.
Pluto at conjunction with the Sun: the infamous dwarf planet moves to the far side of the Sun from Earth and marks the point where it transitions from the evening sky to the morning sky, though it remains far too faint to observe: 7:00 PM.

January 23:

Catch the waxing crescent Snow Moon next to Saturn: Find the small sliver of moon next to the ringed giant in the constellation Pisces low in the western sky on January 22 and 23 around 7:30 PM.

January 24:

CANCELED!!! DAS Open House: Saturn! Neptune! Uranus! Jupiter!: Free in-person program at 📍Chamberlin Observatory: 5:00 PM CANCELED!!!
Standley Lake Stargazing Indoor Astronomy (registration required): Free in-person program at 📍Majestic View Nature Center: 5:30 PM

January 25:

First quarter Snow Moon: 9:47 PM

This Week’s Meteoric Activity:

You can keep track of the activity of meteor showers as well as those beyond the limits of visual observing by visiting the NASA Meteor Shower Portal.

Anthelion (ANT): 1:00 AM in central Cancer: About 3 per hour
γ Ursae Minorids (GUM): Last few hours before dawn in southern Ursa Minor: About 1 per hour
January ξ Ursae Majorids (XUM): 3:00 AM in southern Ursa Major: About 1 per hour
Comae Berenicids (COM): 5:00 AM in southern Coma Berenices: Less than 1 per hour
α Hydrids (AHY): 2:00 AM in western Hydra: Less than 1 per hour
December σ Virginids (DSV): Last hour before dawn in southwestern Serpens Caput: Less than 1 per hour
ξ Coronae Borealids (XCB): Last hour before dawn in western Hercules: Less than 1 per hour