As a child, freshman DeShawn Mims would walk around in his backyard or down his street in Detroit. The moon would follow. He would turn a corner. The moon seemed to edge closer with every step he took. It would shine through the window of his bedroom at night as he slept. The moon was a friend watching over the world; but for Mims, it was watching over him.

"I used to think the moon would follow me wherever I would go," he laughed as he admitted the playful thoughts of his childhood. "Now, I know a little better. In my astronomy class, we learned the moon is visible wherever we are due to its opposite orbit."

Mims enrolled in AST 112: Introduction to Astronomical Observations this semester, a class he said taught him more than he's imagined about the stars, planets and the universe as a whole. He originally chose the class as an opt-out of a harder science lab class for his University Program requirements but found he enjoys it, mostly for the visits to Brooks Astronomical Observatory, located atop Brooks Hall.

He said using the telescopes provided, he is able to see the craters of the moon, distant planets and stars with his naked eye. It is something he never anticipated experiencing in his first year of college.

"It just lets us know a little bit more about the world around us; and honestly, I never really knew how much there was until now," Mims said. "The great unknown — it's really huge."

Glen Williams, physics and astronomy professor, said the philosophy behind the lab course is to go outside, use telescopes and teach first-hand stars, planets, moons, galaxies, nebulas, quasars and the history behind those who have discovered the pieces of the universe and how.

The class allows students to learn about the universe's history by viewing the past first hand, Williams said, because looking through a telescope actually allows people to time travel.

"You can see galaxies that are millions of light-years away, and the farther you look back in time, the closer you get to seeing the beginning of the universe," Williams said. "That's how telescopes work, and students are usually pretty amazed by that. The reaction they have by seeing something so far away so close with their own eye is simply quite amazing."

There is no major for astronomy, so students who are interested in the study would need to sign as a physics major with an astronomy minor, Williams said. But, for those interested in using the observatory, it is open once a month for public use.

Fraser junior Terese McNelis said the subject is neat but can be difficult to understand. Though hard, she encourages taking the lab class instead of just the lecture class AST 111, as you get more experience in AST 112 with hands-on tutorials and worksheets.

She said she laughed the first time she saw the stars through a telescope at the observatory because it reminded her of a high school boyfriend.

"We used to talk on the phone through the night and stare up at the stars together," she said. "It was cheesy but one of those cute things you do in a long distance relationship"