Keep Your Eyes On The Beautiful Wyoming Sky This Month

I've always been rather fond of the December sky for many reasons.

• We see more of it because of the short days.
• My birthday is in the middle of the month.
• The story of Christmas.
• It's freaking awesome.

Living in Wyoming, we have a front-row seat to the stars. Now, I'm not talking about Taylor Swift or Tom Cruise, but the stars of winter and some planets start showing off, like Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars.

• Venus is known as the "evening star. " It shines brightly just after sunset.
• Saturn becomes the brightest it will be all year long.
• Mars will double its brightness in December.
• Jupiter is visible all night long.
• Mercury is hanging low in the southeast late in the month.
• Constellations like Orion, Taurus, and Gemini tend to really show off and shine brightly.
• Meteor showers zip through the night and early morning skies.
• Of course, the winter solstice is the kickoff to winter in Wyoming.

Since we're in Wyoming, the light pollution is VERY low, and the chance to get out and see the spectacular sky is VERY high.

The tricky question is, how do you choose where in Wyoming to go stargazing?

My favorite places are Muddy Mountain, Laramie Peak, and Lava Mountain near Dubois.

Travel Wyoming has done the work of finding the best places to stargaze for you. They have a stargazing itinerary map to guide you to some of the hottest stargazing spots in the state.

On this journey, you'll hit:

• Vadauwoo
• Flaming Gorge
• Red Desert
• Skyline
• Fremont Lake
• Half Moon Lake
• Grand Teton
• Yellowstone
• CCSD Planetarium
• Devils Tower
• and many others along the way.

Take a look at this video from 'The Secrets of the Universe' to get a better idea of what you should be looking for, and then enjoy the stargazing of December.

NASA is a good source of information, too.