From the Weather Channel:
The best time of year for looking at the night sky is during the cold months because the atmosphere grows thinner as the temperature drops. The thinness means that there is less airborne debris to cloud our vision and thus the sky becomes clearer. For folks across the country from the Southwest to the Carolinas, that means conditions might be close to ideal for seeing [the] Ursid meteor shower. [and other meteor showers, and the Milky Way, etc. Possibly even the Aurora when it appears this far south!]
The only problem with winter skygazing is your own stamina for standing out in the cold night.
Forunately we’ve got a very nice place to warm up on these cool, okay cold, winter nights; our Cheddar Ranch Observatory! So don’t let the cold keep you from missing some really excellent observing this winter. Com’on out to CRO!
We have All Member Nights at least twice a month for any member of the club and any guests. If a non-CRO member wants to go out on non-AMNs, contact me, or post on the forum, that you’d like to go to CRO and ask if a CRO member will open it for you. If I’m available, I’m happy to open it up for non-CRO members, and I know several other CRO members would too!