The sky is the limit

Observatory takes shape at Burchell High School

WASILLA — Things are looking up at Burchell High School these days. Quite literally.

Stars will come into focus behind Burchell High School in a few weeks, as one of the largest observatories in the state takes shape. Last week, the retractable roof was completed, and in the next few weeks, the telescope will be in place.

"This is a real exciting project for us, and the rest of the community," said John House-Myers, acting assistant principal at Burchell. "Watching this take shape has been great."

When the project is complete, there will be a 24-by-24 foot observatory with metal siding and a retractable roof housing a revolving 26-inch Newtonian telescope that is 12 feet long. A CCD auto-imager will transmit pictures back to a computer, and a 35-millimeter camera can be hooked up to the telescope to take pictures.

The telescope is being built by Jim Egger, who has a similar telescope at his Butte residence.

"He told me he can count the growth rings on a sheep standing at the top of Pioneer Peak," said teacher Tim Lundt, who is one of the project's planners. "You will be able to see, basically, everything in the sky."

The computer controller hooked up to the telescope will allow students and observatory visitors to plug in predetermined coordinates, and the telescope will automatically go there.

"It is easier to use for novices," Lundt explained. "You can say, ‘I want to see Saturn today,' and you can type in the coordinates, and it goes right to it."

The project started a few years ago, when Wasilla High School science teacher Mike Lutes applied for and received a grant for the observatory. WHS didn't have a place to erect it, though.

"I knew a place where we could do it," Lundt said with a smile. "Right here at Burchell."

Lundt and the administration of Burchell started working on the project at the beginning of the school year, and things progressed from there.

Funds were received from the Alaska Science and Technology Foundation, an Alternative Strategies to Suspension and Expulsion grant and an Alaska Space grant. Burchell and Wasilla high schools also provided funds for the project.

The best resource, though, is the people associated with the project, House-Myers said.

"The businesses who have helped us have been tremendous," House-Myers said. "We couldn't have done it without them. Shell Ewing from Weld Air has been so instrumental. The engineers would fax him a set of plans, and he would look at it and suggest a few changes, and then they would do it again.

"If they would have just grabbed the plans and showed up, we would have been here forever," House-Myers said.

Lundt said the project became a reality due to the support of the administration at Burchell.

"My thing is planning and getting funding for projects, but without the support of the administration, we couldn't have moved forward on it," Lundt said.

Friday, Weld Air and a crew of Burchell students placed the retractable roof on the building. A collective sigh of relief could be heard when the first half of the roof rolled across the frame without a hitch.

Once completed, the observatory will be open to other schools, as well as to the public. Lundt is hoping to have a phone in the observatory, so people can check the conditions before they come.

A project of this size should be enjoyed by the entire community, Lundt said.

"As far as I know, it will be one of the largest observatories at a high school in the country," Lundt said. "It will definitely be one of the biggest public observatories in the state."

While the observatory will be enjoyed by the public, the construction supplied needed jobs for Burchell students.

"Students had to apply to work on it, and they had to go through an interview process with myself," House-Myers said.

Construction is anticipated to be done in a few weeks, and Lundt is hoping to have the observatory open to the public for the start of the next school year. The entire cost will be close to $50,000, all of which was covered by the grants, schools and donations.

House-Myers said the project would not have happened without the help of engineer Arthur Whitmer, astronomer Jim Egger, Weld Air, Mielke Concrete, Anchorage Sand and Gravel, Valley Block and Concrete, Spenard Builders Supply, United Rentals, Husky Electric, Alaska Rubber and Supply, Quin Raymond, Judy Patrick and the Mat-Su Borough School District's maintenance department.

"They gave us things at cost, to keep the price as low as we could get it," House-Myers said.

The student construction team consisted of Paul Barnhardt, James Calderon, Seth Thomas, Steven Thomas, Jason Wright, Chris Gardner and Ryan Ogan.

Throughout the entire construction process, the Burchell High School video crew has been videotaping. The crew has also been videotaping other events, such as a mass-casualty mock accident two weeks ago.