A group of students from the island participated in a night time observation using the J.K.T. telescope located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory. The students from the Colegio Santo Domingo de Guzman, otherwise known as La Palmita, in Santa Cruz de La Palma, carried out the study on the nights of the 24^th November 2001 and the 27^th of March 2002, as part of a pilot astronomical observation programme.

The project was instigated by The Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes and it is the first time that an initiative of this type has ever been carried out in Spain. Three students from the school, Santo Domingo de Guzman, assisted by two teachers, undertook a night time observation using the J.K.T. telescope. The students prepared for the observation under the guidance and advice of astrophysicist and Public Relations Officer, Javier Mendez, and with the help of the Astronomy Group of La Palma (A.A.P.). The aim of the project was to take CCD images using various filters of Messier Objects which after reduction will be added to the catalogue of Messier Objects currently being compiled by I.N.G. as part of its education and public information programmes. The students also took images of comets as well as planets pertaining to our solar system.

Throughout both the preparatory stages and the observation itself, the students made use of the infrastructure and resources commonly made available to astrophysicists as part of their daily work. The students worked in the control room of the telescope, liaising at all times with the telescope operator and stayed in the accommodation offered to astronomers by the observatory.

The students, who were aged between 15 and 16, were the winners of an astronomy competiton in which students were asked to write a project on astronomical observation. The panel, made up of teachers from the school´s science/technicaldepartment and amateur astronomers from the A.A.P., chose the following students as the winning contestants: Patricia Bolaños, Sergio Álvarez and Emmanuel Hernández.

The teachers in charge of the organization of the observation were José Fernández-Arozena and Carlos Ortega.

We would like to thank Rene Rutten, Director of I.N.G., and Javier Mendez for giving us this opportunity and for their interest and constant support. We would also like to thank the Headteacher of the school, Olga Bolaños, without whom it would not have happened, the President of the A.A.P., Juan Antonio Hernández, and observation member, Leopoldo Martín, for their help and support.