February 2026 New Moon

Steph was unable to come at the last minute due to illness this past weekend, but I've determined to try to get out each month around the new moon to practice astrophotography (specifically the Milky Way)  in Rocky Mountain National Park, so in the wee hours of the morning a few days past the actual new moon, but well dark, I made trek #1. 

The February view of the Milky Way was between 3:30 and 5:00 am, very low on the horizon, and of course, subject to cloud presence. It's in this early season that the Milky Way appears to us as a horizontal arc, which gradually shifts to vertical by the fall. I didn't have a lot of luck this round, but it was good practice for gear and settings and scoping out positions around the lake. 

I chose Sprague Lake over Bear Lake because it offers a better chance to see the arc towards the low horizon line. Once we get more vertical (and neither lake will be frozen over) I plan to try Bear Lake to see the arc well over the peaks around it. 

Of course, from this side of the park (Trail Ridge road remains closed until summer), at this time of year, an attempt at the super low galaxy core is directly east towards Estes Park and its light pollution. That's mostly what I got this round.

This was shooting from 4:30 until just before 6. As the months progress, this window moves backwards into the really wee small hours of the morning.

This was my best one with the tail of the Milky Way pretty visible

In March the window of view moves to 3:00 until 5:30, again looking southeast, but a bit higher over the horizon, so barring clouds, hopefully a better view.