Estes Park Dark Sky Hub

For Friday, November 6, 2026. Last checked November 6, 2026 at 4:58 AM MST.

Saturn is well up the south sky tonight, an easy find with the naked eye and a fine telescope target.

Tonight in Estes Park: Mostly Clear, low near 28°F. Forecast cloud cover from 8 PM to 2 AM is about 13%.

The Moon is waning crescent and out of the way. This is a true dark sky night. The stars get the stage to themselves.

Sunset 4:53 PM. Fully dark from 6:26 PM to 5:05 AM, about 10.7 hours of full darkness.

From the National Weather Service. Last checked November 6, 2026 at 9:01 AM MST.

Estes Park, 7,522 feet

Alpine Visitor Center, 11,796 feet

Computed for Estes Park, Colorado. Last checked November 6, 2026 at 4:58 AM MST.

From the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center. Last checked November 6, 2026 at 9:01 AM MST.

Quiet right now

Space weather right now is quiet, 2 on a scale of 0 to 9.

The NOAA aurora model shows no northern lights near Estes Park right now.

The strongest space weather expected in the next 3 days is 5.0 on that same 0 to 9 scale.

At Estes Park's latitude the northern lights normally need a strong storm, about 7 or higher on that scale, to be visible this far south. A forecast is not a promise: even on a strong night the northern lights can stay north of Colorado, and clouds can hide them.

From an air quality forecast (Open-Meteo). Last checked November 6, 2026 at 9:18 AM MST.

The air above Estes Park is very clear tonight.

Very little smoke in the air.

Right now the air quality is 25, which counts as good.

These are forecast numbers, not readings from a sensor in town.

Last checked November 6, 2026 at 4:58 AM MST.

Tonight: Saturn is well up the south sky tonight, an easy find with the naked eye and a fine telescope target.

The International Space Station passes over Estes Park tonight, rising in the southwest around 8:37 PM and climbing to 80 degrees high in the northwest, about six minutes from horizon to horizon.

Coming up:

NOV 9: The new Moon arrives November 9, bringing the darkest skies of the month.

NOV 17-18: The Leonid meteor shower peaks the night of November 17 into the morning of November 18. Expect 10 to 15 fast meteors an hour under dark skies, from debris left by Comet Tempel-Tuttle. The Moon sets just after midnight, leaving the rest of the night dark.

NOV 24: The highlight arrives November 24, when the Beaver Moon reaches its full phase. It is also a supermoon, appearing slightly larger and brighter than an average full Moon because it occurs near the Moon's closest approach to Earth. Look for it near the Pleiades.

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