Students at West Catholic HS design observatory

Students at West Catholic HS design observatory by Rikki Jo Holmes [facebook_send_button] [facebook_like_button] GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) -- A West Michigan school is bringing the stars to their students. West Catholic High School is one of the few schools to have an observatory right next to its building and received grant money to buy a telescope a couple of years ago. Pre-engineering students wanted to take the project even further by designing an observatory. (The observatory at West Catholic High School.) "This is a GPS telescope so I can say, 'Let's look at the moon or Venus or Saturn or Jupiter' and it will point directly to the object," said Tim Nawrock, West Catholic High School Science Department Chair. The images are projected on to the wall for the students to see. "We did one class last year, two classes this year and the kids seem to really enjoy it, being hands-on in astronomy," Nawrocki said. Nawrocki said he's giving his students something they won't get in the classroom. "To be able to look at Jupiter and see the moons around it is, it's something that you don't forget," he said. West Catholic is refining the telescope, the staff hopes to eventually share it with others, including partner schools. Rikki Jo Holmes | November 2, 2015 at 6:06 am EST | Categories: Grand Rapids, Home, News | URL: http://wp.me/p4yStY-GBQ