With the record-breaking amount of 573 freshmen, an elective dedicated to it, an exclusive observatory and plenty of trips to nearby planetariums, Astronomy Club expects to be able to spark interest in the club this year.

“If you are interested, Astronomy Club meets every 8th Highlander Time and also schedules frequent sky watches to research planets and does not require any prerequisites,” physics teacher Dean Howarth said.

Astronomy Club members have been working on improving the club.

“In Astronomy Club, we are doing a little bit of everything-astronomy is a broad topic-and the more you learn about something, the further your interest goes,” Howarth said.

This has been proven, with lots of people who join Astronomy Club becoming active members.

“Most people who join Astronomy Club almost always are active members, because they are also involved in the astronomy elective,” Howarth said

Having an astronomy club in addition to the astronomy class is expected to have many benefits this year.

“Having an extra amount of time to study for your class not only will boost your grade, but will most likely help improve your relations with the teacher as well,” Howarth said

The Astronomy Club does  a little bit of everything related to astronomy, but unlike other schools this club uses the best machinery around to do so.

“We don’t just teach about celestial bodies, but thanks to the observatory we teach also how to operate machines like heavy-duty telescopes as well,” Howarth said.

This is an important part of the club, as being able to operate the observatory’s telescope and other machinery is part of the astronomy elective’s curriculum.

“There are many commonalities between the club and the class; some people even see it as an extra time to study,” Howarth said

The only setback of this class is the winter season, as the  season’s cloudy weather makes it difficult to do sky watches and other astronomical activities

“The only setback we have is when planets are not visible, as we mostly cannot predict what mother nature does to the sky,” Howarth said

Despite the winter season being bad for astronomy, the fall is great for sky watches, as the sky is clear at this time. Because of this, Astronomy Club is planning lots of activities in the fall.

“We will be doing an astrophotography of Saturn and be visiting plenty of planetariums, We might even visit the Air and Space Museum,” Howarth said.

But none of these activities would be possible without volunteers and coordinators like Sara Shobeiri and parent volunteer Mr. Klank.

“Thanks to all the volunteers, Astronomy Club has been able to do meets and host activities,” Howarth said. “I’d say the club has almost all it needs, but the one thing it does need is for people to join.”