J. Scott Shaw Office 235 Physics
e-mail: jss@hal.physast.uga.edu homepage: www.physast.uga.edu/~jss
Office hours: Tuesday and Thursday 9:30 - 10:30 AM
Class times: Wednesday 7:00 - 8:45 PM
Welcome to the Physics and Astronomy Department's Honors Astronomy Laboratory, ASTR 1120L and introductory lababoratory for majors, ASTR 2030L. Instead of the standard two-hour laboratory, which presents a different topic each week, we will spend the whole semester introducing you to astronomical observation. We will observe a variety of astronomical objects. Since there is a limited amount of time, our observations will not be as well developed or as sophisticated as undertaken by our Physics and Astronomy majors in ASTR3010. If you wish to do more serious work you are invited to take ASTR 3010, Astronomical Observations.
Some ground rules:
You will work in groups of 2 or 3 for safety reasons
You will need to sign up for time on the telescope. If you sign up, and it is clear, you need to show up.
While Wednesday night will be reserved for observation, you need to find two other nights for observation. One of these may be Wednesday after class. This does NOT mean you will be observing two nights per week. The logic works like this: It is unrealistic with Athens weather to get all your projects done using just Wednesday nights (unless we get very lucky.) Athens is cloudy about three nights out of four. Thus, if you are prepared to observe 20+ nights during the semester you will have a good chance of getting 4-5 nights for your 4 projects.
When it comes to sign up, more than one group may work in each night. Sessions are about two hours. The Observing schedule will be posted on my office door. You may sign up for any time, but if you sign up you need to show up. Before you sign up check that you can use the night and that your entire group is free.
At first we will all meet on Wednesday night to learn how to use the telescope and how to record and analyze the data. After you get checked out on the telescope you may come in and do the work yourself. (I will be on call. See procedures.) I anticipate an intermediate stage where you do use the telescope and I am downstairs to help.
The Wednesday meetings will either be 1) learning to use the telescope or doing a project (if clear) or 2) instruction on the telescope and observation basics or project analysis techniques (if cloudy).
There will be 8 possible projects. If you complete 4 of them your grade will be an A, 3 for a B, 2 for a C, 1 for a D, 0 and you fail. Pluses or minuses are determined based on the quality of the projects you turn in. For instance, if you do 3 projects and half or more of them (i.e., 2) are above average, I will give you a B+ instead of a B. If all the stuff you turn in is below average, then I will give you a minus. The projects will consist of observations of some astronomical object, a write-up including what you did, what the results were, any analysis leading to the result or calculation, and a brief description of what were the uncertainties in the procedure of calculation.
The projects (roughly in order of difficulty) are:
1. A gallery of interesting objects
2. Scale of the telescope
3. Double stars and resolution
4. The Height of Lunar Mountains
5. A Hunt for Galaxies
6. Asteroids.
7. The motion of Neptune or Pluto
8. Color changes in a galaxy
The projects will consists of four sections: 1) the preparation, 2) the observations 3) the analysis 4) the write-up
The preparation needs to be done before you get to the telescope so that you can use your time there efficiently. Most observing sessions should take an hour or two (although some projects will require that you make observations and record your data over multiple nights). As you get better you will observe more quickly. Before you start your analysis you should show your observations to me (you can send me your images as attachments to an e-mail, for instance) to make sure your data is good enough to get results. The analysis will often require some algebra and geometry. Make sure you understand the procedure or you can go far astray. Make sure you understand enough about the process so that if you get a wild result you will know to go back and find where you made your mistake. Always consult with me if you are uncertain as to what you should do or how you should proceed.
You need to turn in the projects as soon as you write them up. The final date for everything to count toward a grade is the last day of class - April 24. In order to do this you need to have all your observations in hand by April 21.