Welcome to the CMS Observatory!
The CMS Observatory sits on the campus of Cody Middle School in Cody, Wyoming. The observatory contains a 14" Celestron telescope on a Paramount computerized base and several smaller telescopes, including solar telescopes, which are used to help expand student knowledge and fascination of the universe. The facility is primarily available for use within the school district but is also available for use by other groups and organizations. The CMS Astronomy Club meets once a month and hosts open houses for friends and family. |
Other useful websites:
Constellation List (all 88 constellations with information on each) Constellation List (brief overview of each constellation) |

OBSERVATORY NEWS:
- 11/30/23 - This coming month has a couple great events that occur on 12/14/23. This is the peak of the Geminid Meteor Shower. The outlook is good for this shower as the moon will be just 1% full (one day after New) and meteors should be observable all night long. This is also the date of our next monthly Astronomy Club open house and we have Lynn Power as our special guest. She will be sharing with us about meteors and will have some meteorites to see.
- 10/11/23 - This Saturday, October 14th is the annular eclipse. The CMS Observatory will be open from 9:30 am - 12:00 pm for people to visit and observe (weather permitting) the eclipse with our telescopes equipped with solar filters and our solar telescope. We will also have eclipse glasses available. Please stop in at some point and check it out! See the post from 9/21/23 for more information.
- 9/21/23 - On Saturday, October 14th parts of North America will get to enjoy a partial solar eclipse. It is an annular solar eclipse and in our area we will see up to about 70-75% of the sun's disk blocked by the moon. In Cody, the partial eclipse begins at 9:12 AM, it reaches maximum at 10:30 AM and is over at 11:55 AM. THIS website shows the progression of the eclipse.
- 8/12/23 - This weekend is the peak of the Perseid meteor shower and it is shaping up to be a good one, with little interference from the moon. Click HERE for some information on the meteor shower. If you also look at spaceweather.com for Aug. 12 it has good information.
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This video was produced by Cactus Pro Studios for the Park County Travel Council. The series, "Outside Yellowstone", features outdoor activities available in Park County. Episode 4 (shown here) features caving in Cedar Mountain and Stargazing up the North Fork of the Shoshone and from the CMS Observatory! The stargazing portion of the video begins at the 4 minute mark. |
October 14, 2023 Annular Eclipse This image was taken at the CMS Observatory open house during the 2023 annular eclipse. Over 60 people gathered to enjoy the experience together. |
The "Green Comet" This series of images of comet c2022E3 highlights how quickly it is racing away from Earth and into deep space. The sequence only spans about 15 minutes. Each two-minute exposure was taken through our C-14 SCT using a Canon EOS Rebel T7 camera. The images were taken Feb. 9, 2023 when the comet was only magnitude 6.22.
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