August 26
- Reading:
- Class syllabus.
- Observatory Handbook, Chapters 1-4.
- Observational Astronomy, by Birney, Gonzalez & Oesper, Chapter 6.
- Observational Astronomy, by Birney, Gonzalez & Oesper, pp. 145-149 (human eye).
- Make sure to read especially carefully Birney, Gonzalez & Oesper,
pp. 59-62 (hour angle),
pp. 104-105 (focal length, focal ratio), and
pp. 116-123 (eyepieces, magnification, field of view)
since these sections are needed for Lab 1.
Other useful suplementary reading:
- Astronomy; Principles and Practice, by Roy & Clarke,
Sections 16.1-16.2, 17.1-17.6, 18.1-18.4 gives a slightly different
discussion of the same telescope topics.
- Birney, Gonzalez & Oesper, pp. 293-296
(simple statistical concepts, e.g., mean, median, mode, standard deviation, needed for Lab 1).
- Arrange lab time with TA, sign out telescope time, begin working on Lab 1 (due Sep. 4).
- Turn in syllabus agreements in class on Aug. 28.
- Obtain ASTR 313 keys.
- Obtain flashlight.
September 09
- Reading:
- Observational Astronomy, by Birney, Gonzalez & Oesper, Chapter 6.
- Arrange lab time with TA, sign out telescope time, work on Lab 2 (due Sep. 18).
September 16
- Reading:
- Lyons, pp. 1-15. Also, make sure to read the Glossary and Conventions
page right before Page 1.
- Finish Lab 2 (due Sep. 18).
September 18
- Reading:
- Birney, Gonzalez, & Oesper, Chapter 1, and pp. 55-67 of Chapter 4.
- Finish Lab 2 (now due Sep. 23).
September 25
- Reading:
- Birney, Gonzalez, & Oesper, Chapter 8.
- Attend one of the two 26-inch training sessions, Sunday, Sep. 28 at 8PM or Monday, Sep. 29 at 11PM.
October 6
- Reading:
- Birney, Gonzalez, & Oesper, Chapter 9.
- Finish Lab 3 (due October 10, 5 PM).
- Begin preparing for midterm, tentatively scheduled for October 21.
- Begin planning for Lab 4, for which we will need to observe two consecutive
nights in a row, with students observing M15 in pairs. Ideally, this means we
need to try a Tuesday-Wednesday or a Saturday-Sunday combination. So be prepared
to have to observe on these nights as soon as they might appear to be clear.
October 23
- Reading:
- Birney, Gonzalez, & Oesper, Chapters 5, 10 and 14. Note that Chapter 14 has valuable
information on variable stars and period analysis useful for Lab 4.
- Finish Lab 4.
November 3
- Reading:
- Birney, Gonzalez, & Oesper, Chapters 12 and 13.
- Chapter 14 of the ASTR 313/511 Observatory Handbook, Sections 1-6.
- Do observing for Lab 5.
November 25
- Reading:
- Birney, Gonzalez, & Oesper: Chapters 2, 4 and 7.
- Chapter 10 of the ASTR 313/511 Observatory Handbook
(The GenI CCD Camera).
- Lyons: finish reading Chapter 1 (might be good to review the
first part you already read!).
- Prepare for observing for Lab 6. We intend to go up to Fan Mountain
Observatory to complete the observing starting Monday.
- Study for final exam (December 9, 9AM-noon).
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Last modified
Aug 2008 by srm4n