Stellar addition: Notre Dame will offer astronomy course next year

~ With a new observatory, Notre Dame will offer an astronomy course to seniors next year.

The sky's the limit at Notre Dame Regional High School thanks to a newly constructed observatory on the Catholic campus.

Armed with the observatory and new equipment in it, the school plans to offer a semester-long astronomy class to seniors next school year. Twenty-six students already have signed up.

The school Monday night unveiled its observatory, which was built with donated money and labor. The school's science teachers did much of the construction.

The result is an approximately $50,000 facility that's unmatched at any other area school, said assistant principal and physics teacher Brad Wittenborn.

Few high schools anywhere in the nation have an observatory, he said.

A mounted telescope with a 10-inch mirror sits on a raised platform inside the small, brick building just southwest of the hilltop high school. Above the telescope is a fiberglass dome that can be opened and rotated to provide a clear view of the sky.

Three other telescopes can be mounted as needed on permanent concrete pedestals in front of the 20-by-20-foot building.

The permanently mounted telescope in the observatory is connected to a computer. Digital pictures of the stars and planets can be displayed on a computer monitor, and time-lapse images can be recorded.

Construction of the observatory began in the fall, aided by the volunteer labor and craftsmanship of longtime science teacher James Glastetter.

Glastetter built the platform that holds the permanently mounted observatory telescope. The building has been named Glastetter Hall in his honor.

The honor surprised Glastetter, who learned of the recognition when a plaque was unveiled at Monday night's dedication ceremony.

"You can't put a price on it," he said. "I'm humbled."

Glastetter, 61, views it as sort of a retirement present. He's taught at the parochial school for 37 years. He plans to retire in December.

More importantly, he said, students benefit from being able to view the planets themselves rather than relying solely on textbook pictures in science class.

"It just enriches our whole program," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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