Galileo is one of the few schools in the nation that has an observatory, but unfortunately, this trademark feature has been abandoned for the last few decades. However, economics teacher Mr. Lynch has been working to revitalize the old telescope, and with support from Galileo’s Alumni and Staff, the project hopes to return it to its former glory.
Galileo’s observatory was shut down after not being ADA compliant in 1996, and since then the equipment has been abandoned according to Mr. Lynch. While the gears to the opening dome within the observation tower were rusted shut from rain coming in.
Mr. Lynch has been solitarily working over the past two months to amend this issue, in which he’s used non-rust substances, as well as vinegar solutions, to solve the problem.
As for his incentives, Mr. Lynch simply wants to repair this valuable material the school already has, to give students as many resources they can get at a science and technology forward school. He states, “We’re one of the few highschools in the bay area that have an observation tower, if you look at some of the old yearbooks kids would go up there, and here we are in 2024, it’s pretty sad that we can’t get this thing working.”
Leaning towards a more technological telescope, Mr. Lynch plans to attach a camera lens, wire it to a computer, and be able to broadcast the view to Galileo’s website. He states that a possibility would be reaching out to Galileo alumni groups and gathering funding for this project, which would require a few thousand dollars. He says, “We can bring back some science and technology at the school, and take pride in it.”
Other Galileo faculty have been helping Mr. Lynch with the project, including computer science teacher Mr. Tan, who is working with Mr. Lynch to live stream the telescope. Mr. Tan says, “It’s an exciting project, we’ve had an observatory, probably since the school was founded, but it’s been in disrepair for years, decades maybe. So I’m just excited to get it to work and be useful, especially at Galileo, where Galileo discovered space,”
Many teachers have shown support for Mr. Lynch in his endeavor. Galileo alumni & physics teacher, Mr. O, said, “We are one of the cool schools where we do have it, so I think it would be cool if we had it open.”
