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Centennial Observatory Photo Gallery

Three telescopes in a field
Observatory - THEN

Norman Herrett with his 12.5” Newtonian reflector telescope, in the yard behind his jewelry store on Addison Avenue in Twin Falls. The curtains were erected to prevent neighbors’ outdoor lighting from shining directly into the telescopes.

CSI's current observatory
Observatory - NOW

The Centennial Observatory, opened in 2004, the 100th anniversary of Herrett’s birth (and, coincidentally, the founding of Twin Falls, Idaho), thus its name.

An image of a galaxy that looks like a whirlpool
M51, The Whirlpool Galaxy
M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy and its companion NGC5195, in Canes Venatici. R (8 minutes), G (10 minutes) and B (16 minutes) with guiding correction, stacked and processed in MaxIm DL. North is up. By Ken Thomason and Rick Widmer.
An image of a nebula with a green and red hue
M27, The Dumbbell Nebula
M27, the Dumbbell Nebula in Vulpecula, imaged with the Shotwell CCD camera. Tracking without guiding correction, L, R, G, and B frames, approximately four minutes each, processed and stacked with MaxIm DL. North is up. Reduced from original, in which 20th magnitude stars can be seen. By Chris Anderson.
An image of a nebula with a light orange hue
M1, The Crab Nebula
M1, the Crab Nebula in Taurus, imaged with the Shotwell CCD camera.  Fifteen stacked images (five in R (96 sec. each), five in G (120 sec. each), and five in B (240 sec. each)). Processed with MaxIm DL. North is up. By Chris Anderson.
A close up image a nebula with a red hue
The Eagle Nebula
The Eagle Nebula, imaged on July 21/22, 2006.  North is up.  L (163 shots at 10 sec. each), R (30 shots at 20 sec. each), G (40 shots at 20 sec. each), B (70 shots at 20 sec. each). Processed in MaxIm DL and Paint Shop Pro. By Chris Anderson.
An image of a very bright comet
Comet P17/Holmes
Comet P17/Holmes, imaged on Nov. 1, 2007 with the Shotwell CCD camera. One hundred stacked images (40 in L (30 sec. each), 20 in R, G, and B (90 sec. each)). Processed with MaxIm DL and Paint Shop Pro. North is up. By Chris Anderson.
A timelapse of Barnard's Star from 2005 to 2016
Barnard's Star
Barnard's Star, the star with the greatest proper motion on the sky, moves about 1° every 350 years. (This image is approx. 0.13° from top to bottom.)  Processed in MaxIm DL and Photoshop.  By Chris Anderson and David West.
Full Size Animation

Interested in astronomy? Join one of our Star Parties!