What’s Up in Denver? December 22nd through 28th, 2025

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

December 22 (Last Day of Hanukkah):

Discover the Stars at the Denver Christkindl Market

Discover the Stars at the Denver Christkindl Market with AstroTours (Free in-person event): 📍Auraria Campus, Tivoli Quad: 6:00 PM
Ursid Meteor Shower peaks: The recent new moon should make for nice dark skies to see a shower that can produce up to 5-10 meteors an hour. Look for them to radiate from the cup of the Little Dipper in Ursa Minor in the northern skies after 11:00 PM.

December 23:

Catch the 4 biggest planets lined up across the December sky: While not quite the planet parade that was prevalent earlier in 2025, all of the outer planets in the solar system are lined up in zodiacal constellations across the ecliptic (the sun’s apparent path through our sky) this week. From east to west, find Jupiter in Gemini, Uranus in Taurus, Neptune in Pisces, and Saturn in Aquarius: Around 9:00 PM

December 24 (Christmas Eve):

Track Santa Claus’ flight around the world with the official NORAD Santa Tracker

December 25 (Christmas Day):

The waxing crescent Wolf Moon reaches Ascending Node, the point when the moon crosses the ecliptic plane moving from south to north of Earth’s orbital plane around the Sun. 15:03 PM

December 26 (First Day of Kwanzaa):

Look for the waxing crescent Wolf Moon next to Saturn: find the small sliver of moon next to the ringed giant low in the western sky in the constellation Pisces around 10:00 PM

December 27:

DAS Open House: Saturn! Neptune! Uranus! Jupiter! 📍Chamberlin Observatory: 4:30 PM
First Quarter Wolf Moon: 12:09 PM

December 28:

Take a tour of the double stars of Orion: Now that winter is formally upon us, it’s a great time to get acquainted with the some of the double star systems that live in the constellation Orion. There are eight prominent doubles in Orion listed in the Astronomical League’s Double Star Observing Program. These are Beta, Delta, Lamda, Theta 1, Theta 2, Iota, Sigma, and Zeta Orionis and all can be split fairly easily even in the city limits with a 5″ or larger telescope: 11:00 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.

Ursids (URS): Pre-dawn hours in southern Ursa Minor — Up to 5 per house at peak, otherwise, less than 1 per hour
Anthelion (ANT): 1:00 AM in central Gemini — 3 per hour
Comae Berenicids (COM): 5:00 AM in eastern Leo Minor — 2 per hour
σ Hydrids (HYD): 3:00 AM in western Hydra — 1 per hour
Monocerotids (MON): 2:00 AM in western Canis Minor — 1 per hour
Geminids (GEM): 2:00 AM in northeastern Gemini — Less than 1 per hour
α Hydrids (AHY): 2:00 AM in eastern Monoceros — Less than 1 per hour
η Hydrids (EHY): 4:00 AM in western Hydra — Less than 1 per hour
December χ Virginids (XVI): Last hour before dawn in southern Virgo — Less than 1 per hour
December σ Virginids (DSV): Last hour before dawn in northern Virgo — Less than 1 per hour