Moonset Over The Bitterroots

Thursday, January 30, in the Bitterroot Valley brought clear skies by afternoon and a person in Hamilton could see all the way north to the mountains around Snow Bowl by Missoula. The skies stayed clear at night, too. Mike Daniels captured the waning moon setting behind some clouds over the Bitterroot Mountains. The moon will become a new moon in a week or so and then start waxing toward full moon on February 23. Mike and others also saw (and maybe heard) a fireball meteor or possibly space debris that was visible throughout the western U.S., according to Spaceweather.com. Later, Gazing to the north, he saw the glow from Missoula is soon swallowed by the dark skies (see photo below). As someone has said - "Night hides the world, but reveals the universe."