“People were really excited when it came on the screen.”

That view wouldn’t have been possible in Glacier before last week’s opening of the observatory. Previously, park staff put telescopes in the St. Mary parking lot or groups met at Logan Pass, and people looked through a single-lens eye piece. Between the typical blowing winds and squinting through the eye piece, the view of the stars was somewhat limited.

But today, with the new PlaneWave 20-inch Corrected Dall Kirkham telescope — which lists for around $35,000 — more of the night sky unfolds before park visitors. The telescope is among the largest in Montana.

“This new telescope is something we couldn’t do without the observatory. It needs to be inside a structure,” Rademaker said. “We were surprised at the amount of color and amount of light in some of those deep sky objects; traditionally with the eye pieces you can’t see the color. You can only see the light.”

The project is part of the first-in-the-world International Dark Sky Park, which is a partnership with Waterton Lakes National Park across the border in Canada. The Glacier National Park Conservancy, the nonprofit fundraising arm of the park, contributed more than $200,000 for the International Dark Sky project, including funding for the observatory and telescope.