Broadening their horizons

The new telescope is equipped with solar filters for viewing the sun.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
CANFIELD -- Things are looking up, literally, at the science department at the Mahoning County Career & amp; Technical Center.
The school recently received a $1,500 Meade 125 ETX telescope for use in its science programs.
The high-resolution telescope offers automatic tracking of celestial objects to allow easy viewing of planets, stars, galaxies and more.
The school normally does an astronomy program annually, but it wasn't offered this year, said Bob Miller, science teacher.
The class will be restored next year, but the telescope will be put to use immediately as part of MCCTC's physical science curriculum, Miller said, noting that state standards for physical science courses include an astronomy segment.
The school also has an astronomy night where students and the public are invited once in the spring and again in the fall to spend an evening viewing the sky. The next session is scheduled for the end of March, Miller said.
Days and nights
Astronomy is normally a morning class at the school, and the new telescope is equipped with solar filters that will allow pupils to study the sun, he said.
The class also scheduled a number of visits to the Youngstown State University planetarium and has some viewing nights to give students an opportunity for additional night studies of the sky.
Miller said the school bought the telescope after the science department put in a request for the instrument on its three-year curriculum plan.
The $1,500 telescope automatically points to the north when it is set up, and, once the local ZIP code is punched into its system, its push-button controls allow it to focus on any of 30,000 celestial objects whose coordinates are stored in its database.
Users also can manually enter astronomical coordinates for objects they are seeking, Miller said.
Multiple viewers
The telescope can be plugged into a television, camcorder or computer to allow more people to "see" through its viewfinder at one time.
The school had one telescope, an antique instrument that was donated to the astronomy program, before the arrival of the Meade 125 ETX. One of the astronomy classes completely dismantled and restored the instrument two years ago, Miller added.
gwin@vindy.com