Plan Your Visit
Explore artifacts and natural history, learn with hands-on activities, delve into active research and astronomy, or enjoy a show in Idaho's largest planetarium.
Upcoming Events
Closed for Fourth of July
The Herrett Center will be closed on Friday, July 3rd and Saturday, July 4th in observance of Independence Day. We will resume normal operating hours on Tuesday, July 7th.
Thank you for your understanding, and we hope you have a safe and meaningful holiday.
Close Conjunction of Mars and Uranus
📅 Saturday, July 4th | ⏰ 5:00 - 5:30 a.m. | Free Admission
Witness an exceptionally rare planetary pairing as Mars and Uranus appear just 0.1° apart in the sky—their closest conjunction until 2053!
Through our powerful 24” telescope, you’ll be able to see both planets simultaneously in the same field of view. Despite being separated by enormous distances in space—with Mars relatively nearby and Uranus far beyond—the two worlds will appear strikingly similar in apparent size. It’s a powerful reminder of the scale and perspective of our solar system.
Weather permitting. Clear skies are required for viewing.
Reptile Revue
1st & 3rd Tuesdays | 6 PM – 7 PM | FREE
Get up close and personal with some of the coolest cold-blooded residents of the Herrett Center! Reptile Revue happens twice a month and gives you the chance to meet our fascinating reptiles, learn fun facts, and even interact with them in a safe and educational setting.
Upcoming Reptile Revue Events:
July 7th and July 21st
August 4th and August 18th
Summer Solar Session
📅 Wednesday, July 08th | ⏰ 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. | Free Admission
Experience the power of the cosmos—right in the daytime sky!
Safely observe the Sun through specially filtered telescopes and witness real sunspots along with the dynamic details of the solar atmosphere.
Then look beyond our star to spot:
- Gibbous (66% illuminated) Venus
- and bright stars visible in our 24" telescope
Weather permitting. Clear skies are required for viewing.
Monthly Free Star Party
Join us in the Centennial Observatory for our Monthly Free Star Party and your chance to see:
Gibbous (65% illuminated) Venus (before 9:59 PM)
Double/multiple stars
Deep-sky targets (star clusters, nebulae, galaxies)
Moonless night
*Observatory Events are weather dependent. Call the Centennial Observatory Star Line at 732-MOON(6666) for the latest on upcoming events.
Related Events
Peak Pluto in 2026
📅 Friday, July 24th | ⏰ 1:45 - 2:15 a.m. | Free Admission
Don’t miss a truly rare celestial opportunity to see Pluto at its brightest and closest for the year!
Through our telescopes, you’ll be able to glimpse this distant dwarf planet, currently 3,211,620,000 miles (5.17 billion km) away, at a proximity it won’t reach again until January 2202. Despite its incredible distance, Pluto will appear as a tiny but brilliant point of light, offering a unique perspective on the outer reaches of our solar system.
Weather permitting. Clear skies are required for viewing.
Field Trips and Group Tours
Field trips and educational group events are welcome! Choose from our tour options or request a custom theme when you book a field trip.
Accessibility
The Herrett Center for Arts & Science is committed to making our collections, building, programing, and services accessible to all audiences.
Open Caption is available for most Faulkner Planetarium Shows. To request this service, please let the cashier at the front desk know when purchasing tickets.
The Centennial Observatory features one of the world’s largest fully wheelchair-accessible public telescopes. An elevator takes visitors up to the observatory space, once there, a wheelchair elevator is available to take visitors with limited mobility to the observatory deck. The ARE-125, an optical “periscope” designed by DFM, allows unprecedented access to the telescope for wheelchair-bound or limited-mobility visitors.
For questions concerning accessibility prior to your visit, please call the Herrett Center front desk at 208-732-6655.
Inside Map of the Herrett Center
