course poster
tentative syllabus
MIDTERM EXAM WED 10/31 AT USUAL CLASS TIME.
Weekly Class announcements:
Week 1:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday Sept 5: Get textbook and read Chapters 1 and 2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday Sept 10
Do Ch1 Questions for review 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7.
Also Chapter 2 questions for review 2, 3, 4, 7, 8. Hand in by monday 9/17.
Reading: skim Ch3, paying more attention to the following sections:
Hipparcos, Tycho, Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Summary of Stellar Nomenclature,
Messier, NGC, Index Centre de Donnees Astronomiques.
Log into the SIMBAD web page and do a query for an object
from one of the previous catalogs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Week 2:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday Sept 12
Read Ch 4.
Monday Sept 17:
Turn in HW 1; Begin lab 1 (take data); finish ch 4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Week 3:
Wednesday Sept 19:
Read Ch 5, pay special attention to magnitudes, fluxes and different spectral bands
and filters.
Continue lab 1 (analyze noise properties of CCDs) using IDL and ccdphot.
HW 2: from Ch 4: Questions for review 9 (note: specify the coordinates to high enough
accuracy to notice the difference!), 12;
Chapter 5, questions for review 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8;
and some web use (TBA); hand in HW 2 by wednesday Sept 26
Monday Sept 24: Read ch 6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
W4:
Continue with Lab 1. Observatory training and testing.
Wed 9/26: Read Ch 6
Mon 10/1: Read Ch 7
Homework 3, due Wednesday 10/3: calculate the plate scale, magnitude limit,
angular resulution, magnification, and light gathering power of the 20" telescope
(assuming AP7 camera, or 22mm and other eyepieces, as appropriate).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
W5: continue lab 1
Wed 10/3: Read Ch 8
Mon 10/8: Read Ch 9 (no class tonight!)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tentative future schedule
W6: lab 1 write-up due friday 10/19
Wed 10/10:
Mon 10/15: Begin lab 2
W7:
Wed:
W8: observing & data reduction
W9: observing & data reduction
W10: projects, presentations (&data reduction?)
------------------------------
Links:
-----------
Becky Koopmann's helpful links
American Association of Variable Star Observers
Center for Backyard Astrophysics