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Leeward scope
lets kids reach for stars
The college has the only
By Helen Altonn
public observatory on Oahu
Star-BulletinLeonard Wilson has to turn kids away from his popular space and cosmology class at Radford High because it involves the use of telescopes, among other attractions.
He takes students to Leeward Community College, which has two telescopes operating in a landscaped Observatory Park.
That "real hands-on learning" is what astronomy professor Fritz Osell envisioned when he began setting up an "observatory for the people" on Leeward's campus.
With the closing of Bishop Museum's observatory, Leeward now has the only one open to the public on the island, Osell said. "We're developing extensive educational outreach programs geared to the K-12 science curriculum."
P> Osell started with a 12-inch telescope in 1995 that "proved we could do astronomy here. The campus is dark enough to let us see things in the sky," he said. "And there's real public interest. We've had thousands of visitors."Now, he has a state-of-the-art 20-inch Ritchey-Chretien telescope.
It was funded with a $152,000 Defense Department grant, community donations, and time and apprentices contributed by construction companies.
Still to be set up is a 24-inch University of Hawaii Planetary Patrol telescope moved from Mauna Kea in 1995 to make way for the Gemini Telescope. Last year's Legislature appropriated $800,000 to build a dome, but it has not been released by the governor, Osell said.
The telescopes are available to schools and the whole university system for observations and instruction, Osell said.
They also will be connected to the Internet so they can be operated anywhere in the world, he said.
Wilson, among other teachers taking advantage of the telescopes, said he has been working with Osell to redesign his course and offer it at Leeward for community college and high school students.
It would entail use of the telescopes and a Web-based manual for the solar system created by the UH Institute of Geophysics and Planetology faculty, he said.
Some of Wilson's students are learning to use a filar micrometer with Leeward's 12-inch telescope to measure angles between double stars.
Osell has a $10,000 state grant to develop a program to show high school and middle school teachers how to use the unique instrument.
The students learn aspects of physics and trigonometry while making the measurements. They will work for a year on the project, and their names will go into the catalog as researchers.
"That's really cool stuff," Wilson said. "And the good part is, it's not going to happen in a classroom."
The students are learning to understand alignment, what the rotation of the Earth means, and other factors involved with the use of a telescope, Wilson said.
"Fritz has them hooked up to computers. They use laptops and a work station to punch in coordinates of an object and fine-tune the instrument to align with bipolar stars. ... They have to be right on the money in their alignment."
Osell's new telescope will make a public appearance at a Leeward fund-raising event May 6. Guests will be able to sample sights in the night sky with the telescopes, as well as taste specialties of star chefs.
"We're ready for any group that wants to make use of the observatory," Osell said, inviting people to call him and make arrangements. His number: 455-0011, ext. 290.
