Looking toward the heavens: Bruneau Dunes State Park to add second telescope in 2023

There will soon be another option for people wanting to explore the sky in Idaho, and it won’t be far from one of the existing places to do so.

Bruneau Dunes State Park is working on plans to build a second telescope. It’s expected to open in spring 2023.

Although the project is still in its infancy, the second telescope will likely be about 100 yards from the first one.

The first observatory was built between 1999 and 2000 and included the telescope. Originally three telescopes were to be installed at the Steele Reese Education Center site, but only the one standing today was built.

“This new telescope, that was part of Gov. (Brad) Little’s ‘Building Idaho’s Future’ bill that just came out recently, and I know that $950,000 was allocated here to the park to put in this second telescope, which is kind of a continuation of that original three-telescope project or dream,” park manager Bryce Bealba said.

The second telescope is not going to be the same as the first or even look like the original building, Bealba said. It’ll be a modern telescope and sit in a clam shell housing, where the whole dome will roll back when opened.

“Originally the thought was to put in a very high-end digital telescope that basically does not use lenses so much and is more like a camera, combining layers and layers of data and produce a visible image,” he said. “It was a great idea, but ultimately we decided that the public wants to just actually put their eye on a lens and look at a planet or galaxy, they don’t want to see a broadcast image that was taken 100 yards away.”

There are no plans now to build a third telescope, but it could be considered in the future.

Bealba said one thing he is excited about the second telescope is how accessible it will be to the public, especially for those requiring assistance.

“Our current telescope is a Newtonian telescope, it’s a tall telescope, where the lens is situated close to the top and so to be able to actually look through that one, you have to climb almost like an airport stair car to get up to it,” he said.

A low-slope American with Disabilities Act path will be installed for access to the telescope, which will have a lens accessible to those who use a wheelchair.

Once completed, the project will allow ADA access to both telescopes and the education center from a newly paved parking lot as well.

The added telescope will be used for public shows, hopefully decreasing wait times.

“Pre-COVID, we were doing public shows every Friday and Saturday night down there and so it was a combination of our campers and people driving in from Boise, Twin and surrounding communities, and it was getting discovered,” Bealba said. “On a busy night down there, you could have 200 people hoping to look through the telescope so it took quite a while to get through the line.”

In partnership with the Boise Astronomical Society and the park, numerous smaller telescopes are used in the quad area to help with crowds, but opening a second telescope will help spread out visitors, allowing more people to see through one of the two, he said.

Other highlights of the project will be an update to the first telescope building’s caster system, a cleaning for its tracks, and updates to the telescope with a camera system so images can be broadcast into the education center, making images more accessible for those wanting to stay inside.

This will allow the park to upload images taken from the telescope to social media, a website and to be kept in house for educational value for the public.

If the construction of the second telescope goes as scheduled, opening it in May 2023 would coincide with the 25th anniversary of the original telescope being open.

Bruneau is still seeking approval from the International Dark-Sky Association to become a dark sky park, Bealba said. His hope is to tie that recognition to the 25th anniversary of the original observatory opening.

For more information regarding the observatory at Bruneau Dunes, visit their website at parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/parks/bruneau-dunes/observatory or call the park at 208-366-7919.