Omar Jones is a Sirius youngster when it comes to stargazing.

Actually, he is serious about checking out constellations, and he really does like scanning the night sky for its brightest star.

"You look at the stars, and your eyes just about pop out," said Omar, a fifth-grader at Twain elementary school, as he recalled spotting the constellation Orion and the star Sirius for the first time earlier this week.

Omar, 11, and a group of his schoolmates had a chance to improve their star-spotting skills Thursday in a mobile planetarium that visited the school on Lyme Street. The inflatable silver bubble, known as the Star Lab, was the centerpiece of the school's space center, a weeklong exhibit set up in its community room.

Inside the planetarium, the students were treated to a stellar presentation by Holly Garavel, a Newington teacher on a yearlong sabbatical to take the Star Lab to schools around the state. The effort, called "Reach for the Stars," is funded by a grant from the Christa McAuliffe Fellowship.McAuliffe was the teacher-astronaut who died in the Challenger explosion in 1986.

Garavel illuminated the ceiling with stars and constellations, pointing out where they appear in the sky and giving the students tips on how to find them from their own backyards.

"The kids love it. You don't have to stand on your head to get their attention," said Garavel, who estimates that about 12,000 students in the state will go through the Space Lab this year.

Outside of the planetarium, Twain students and first-grade teacher Sharon Burchfiel set up exhibitson such topics as careers in NASA, weather balloons, books on space, astronauts, the geology of the solar system and material and photos from Burchfiel's two weeks at the NASA science technology workshop in Hampton, Va., in 1998. Burchfiel was one of three teachers in the state and 225 nationwide to participate.

During the workshop, Burchfiel and the other participants divided into crews, dressed up like astronauts and learned about planets and rockets.

"The combination with the planetarium was the right hands-on element they needed to see what space is," Burchfiel said. "I was excited and wanted the kids to be. I think that happened."

First-grader Courtney Keith agreed, saying she never paid a lot of attention to the stars befor visiting the Star Lab.

"It's different now," said Courtney, 7. "They're not just stars."

The same goes for Omar, who said he hopes to eventually find all the constellations, starting with Scorpio. Omar is undeterred by the fact that the constellation that is his astrological sign does not appear in the sky over his neighborhood until much past his bed time.

"I'm setting my alarm for 2 a.m.," he said.

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