Picture
NGC 2244 - Rosette Nebula by Jay Ballauer

History

The history of the Cruzen Boys Black Hills Observatory (CBBHO) is just now being written.  With formalized planning of the observatory beginning in early 2014, site construction started on June 22, 2015.   Observatory build history and schedule is as follows:

June 22, 2015 - Groundbreaking and leveling of sub-base
June 23, 2015 - Instrument piers footings drilled
June 2015 - Electrical run to observatory slab
June 2015 - Conduit for electricity and data run
June 2015 - Slab footings and forms completed
June 2015 - Concrete poured for piers and slab
June 2015 - Poles dug and set for security cameras, weather sensors, all-sky camera, and seeing monitor.
June 2015 - Home-side of internet bridge installed. 
June 2015 - PoE security cameras mounted (not installed).
July 2015 - 17" Planewave CDK and FLI Proline 16803 delivery
June 2016 - 14.5' Pier-Tech PTD1 delivery and installation
Fall 2016 - Instrumentation installation
Early Spring 2017 - First light and initial testing/troubleshooting
Late Spring and Summer 2017 - Beta testing of remote systems

Who are we? 

Dr. William Cruzen
Dr. Cruzen is an accomplished physician from Illinois.  Recently retired, he built a home in Northeast Wyoming in a beautiful, dark sky location bordered by the Black Hills National Forest.  It has been his dream to build a world-class amateur observatory, a place where he can learn astronomy and share it with his family and friends.  Dr. Cruzen is the vision behind CBBHO.

Jay Ballauer
Mr. Ballauer is a amateur astronomy veteran and a well-known astrophotographer with many publications and awards to his credit.  A high school math teacher in "real-life," Jay has built several observatories and has consulted on many others.  Teaming with Dr. Cruzen from the beginning, Jay has brought a versatile skill set with him, able to handle the comprehensiveness of astronomy instrumentation, networking infrastructure, construction, and instruction.  Many of his own astronomy images can be found at his own webpage at www.allaboutastro.com. 

Observatory Construction History (most recent images first)