Syllabus for Roster(s):
- 15Sp ASTR 1230-100 (CGAS)
- 15Sp ASTR 1230-101 (CGAS)
ASTR 1230 Spring 2015 Syllabus
SPRING 2015
ASTRONOMY 1230
INTRODUCTION TO |
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATION |
Contact Information:
Name |
Office |
Office Hours |
Lab Hours |
|
Ricky Patterson Instructor |
Astronomy 243 |
M after class, T 2-3, or by appt. |
Varies |
ricky@virginia.edu |
Allison Towner Head 1230 TA |
Astronomy 267 |
T 11-1 |
Mon 8-11 PM |
at4bu@virginia.edu |
Pallavi Patil Lab TA |
Astronomy 263 |
n/a |
Tue 8-11 PM |
pp3uq@virginia.edu |
Kristen Jones Lab TA |
Astronomy |
n/a |
Wed 8-11 PM |
kmj5ea@virginia.edu |
Xiaping Tang Lab TA |
Astronomy 109 | n/a | Thu 8-11 PM |
xt5ur@virginia.edu |
Course Description:
Astronomy 1230 is an observational/laboratory course intended to familiarize you with the general features of the night sky and the astronomical objects that can be studied with small instruments, including binoculars, small telescopes, and cameras. It will develop your skills in operating astronomical instrumentation and in making and analyzing scientific observations. It also explores the central role observations have played in the development of modern astronomy and in our interpretation of the structure and evolution of the universe. The course has two main components: lectures and observational projects.
- Lectures: The lectures will be given Monday nights from 7 to 9 PM in Clark 107 during the first half of the semester. They will cover the observable phenomena in the night sky, principles of telescopes, the nature of electromagnetic radiation and methods of its detection, and the basic observational techniques to be used in the laboratory work. It is important to attend all lectures. Lecture material will be covered on both the weekly quizzes and the midterm exam.
-
Observatory Work: The emphasis in the course is on making your own observations of the sky using your eyes, binoculars, telescopes, and other equipment such as cameras. Most work for this course will take place at the Student Observatory, which is in the U-shaped building located immediately to the west of the Astronomy Building on McCormick Road (see the Astronomy Laboratory Maps). The Observatory Support Office and equipment storage is in room G25.
- Good observing conditions are at a premium, and you will not be able to complete all required work by observing only on the one night of the week for which you registered. You need to be prepared to take advantage of good weather conditions whenever they occur and to work at the Student Observatory on any night from Monday through Thursday.
- Therefore, to achieve a good grade in this class, you must adjust your personal schedule to the course, not vice-versa. If you think this will be a problem for you, please consider taking another Astronomy course. We do not recommend that you take ASTR 1230 if you have a regular commitment that conflicts with the 8-11 PM M-R lab hours.
Pre/Co-Requisite
ASTR 1210 (Solar System Astronomy) or ASTR 1220 (Stars & Galaxies) are pre/co-requisite to this course. If you have not already taken one of these courses, or are not taking one this semester, you must receive the instructor's permission to enroll in ASTR 1230. Please contact the instructor in advance.
Web Pages:
UVa Collab Page for ASTR 1230 - Sp 2015 (these pages)
http://www.astro.virginia.edu -- Astronomy Department Home Page
The ASTR 1230 Collab Page contains all announcements and information on all course policies, assignments, deadlines, weekly interactive quizes, grading, and grades. If you have questions, this is the first place to look. The page also contains links to supporting web sites on current astronomical phenomena, weather, astronomical observations, and so forth. The Collab Page is a secure site, and you will need your UVa login and NetBadge password to access it.
Lecture notes are also posted on the ASTR 1230 Collab Page. Notes will be posted the Friday before the lecture. It would be best if you read these before coming to class and were prepared with questions. You can make hardcopies to mark up during class. Reading assignments for each week are given on the corresponding set of lecture notes.
Texts and Supplies:
Texts are available in the UVa Bookstore.
- Astronomy 1230 Laboratory Manual, Current Edition (UVa Astronomy Department)
- The Night Sky Star Finder "Sky Wheel" - Northern Hemisphere (Chandler)
- The Edmund Mag 5 Star Atlas
- How We See the Sky: A Naked-Eye Tour of Day & Night (Hockey)
You will also need to purchase a small flashlight (e.g. a Mini-Maglite). Be sure to buy one with a red filter; if you can't find one with a red filter, we can provide a makeshift red filter on your first night at the lab. You should always bring a flashlight with you to the Observatory. Please Note: A smart phone cannot be used as a flashlight for this course. The LED light will damage your night-adapted vision (and that of your classmates as well).
The Astronomy Minor
ASTR 1230 counts towards the requirements of the Astronomy Minor. The full requirements for a minor are: ASTR 1210, ASTR 1220, and your choice of three courses from ASTR 1230 or any 3000-level ASTR courses. If you would like to declare a Minor in Astronomy, please see the instructor for more information.
Daily (weekly) Responses:
A short written daily response is due at the end of each class. It must contain at least two questions that you have about material that you do not understand, and at least two things that you do understand with an explanation demonstrating your understanding.
Cell phones and other electronic devices:
You must silence all electronic devices before the start of class. Devices can only be used during class for class material. Use of devices for any other purpose during class is rude, and disruptive to other students who are trying to pay attention in class. Texting, reading email, watching YouTube, checking Facebook, etc. etc. etc. is not allowed. Please do not let this become a problem.
Observatory Schedule and Orientation
- The Student Observatory is open, weather permitting, Tuesday through Thursday nights 8-11 PM all semester. On Mondays, the Observatory will open 15 minutes after the end of the lecture and close at 11 PM. If there is no Monday lecture, the Observatory will open at 8 PM. The Observatory will close promptly at the end of the scheduled period.
- During the first full week of class, students are required to be at the Student Observatory for a lab orientation on the lab night for which they are registered. Once you are acclimated to the Observatory, you may work on any night that it is open, regardless of your formal registration. You will need to take advantage of this flexibility due to the vagaries of the weather (see next section).
Weather Warning and Personal Scheduling
- The Observatory will be closed under adverse weather conditions (clouds, fog, precipitation). The TA's will decide whether the Observatory can open by 6:30 PM each night and post an Observatory status telephone message at 434-924-7238 at that time. Call this number for information if the weather conditions are questionable. At their discretion, the TA's can open the Observatory if conditions improve after 6:30 and will post an updated recording. Students are encouraged to use such nights, but any night that is not declared "open" by 6:30 will not count against the official quota of "clear nights."
- Although you are allowed to set your own schedule for attending the Observatory, you are also responsible for completing each laboratory by the posted deadline. Deadlines and penalties for missing them are discussed further below.
- Good observing conditions are at a premium, and you will not be able to complete all required work by observing only on the one night of the week for which you registered. You need to be prepared to take advantage of good weather conditions whenever they occur and to work at the Student Observatory on any night from Monday through Thursday.
- Therefore, to achieve a good grade in this class, you must adjust your personal schedule to the course, not vice-versa. If you think this will be a problem for you, please consider taking another Astronomy course. We do not recommend that you take ASTR 1230 if you have a regular commitment that conflicts with the 8-11 PM M-R lab hours.
Preparation for Observing
- You are expected to be well prepared for lab work in this course. TA's will not have much time for individual instruction, so your progress will depend on your self-motivation and independence. You should be completely familiar with the goals, procedures, and technique for each lab before you go to the Student Observatory.
- Bring the lab manual, observing sheets, star charts (the Edmund Mag 5 Star Atlas and the Sky Wheel), flashlight, notebook, etc. with you to every observing session.
- Before attempting any particular lab assignment, you should carefully read the corresponding chapter in the manual. A clear understanding of what is expected in each lab will save valuable time during the limited lab hours with clear skies. Note that it is awkward to consult written material when you are working in the dark(!), so the more pre-observing preparation, the better.
- You should understand the observing conditions required for each lab and plan your activities well in advance. Some labs can only be done during certain phases of the Moon. Others require particularly good observing conditions (e.g. Meteors). The Variable Star Lab requires (brief) observations made over a period of 2 months. The "Time Estimate" section of each lab writeup in the Manual will alert you to special considerations.
- Most labs are best done during the darkest skies, i.e. in the two-week period centered on New Moon. A brief sky calendar is included at the end of this syllabus. For more complete information, you can consult some of the links from the ASTR 1230 home page.
- You must have filled out part of the standard observing forms used to record binocular or telescope observations before starting to observe. Preferably do this before coming to the observatory. See details in the next section.
- Reference materials: The Manual and the Edmund Atlas will provide most of the background information you will need in the course, but other reference materials can be obtained from the TA's or on the Internet. See the Web Links Page for a list of relevant sites.
General Observatory Procedures - You must follow these for each lab!
- The TA's will provide general orientation during the first full week of the semester. You must attend an orientation session that week during the hours for which you are registered for lab (regardless of the weather).
- You will do the Constellation Lab (Lab 1) in small groups. Group sessions will take place during the first two usable nights on or after Monday, January 30.
- The TA's will help you in learning to use the 8-in telescopes as part of doing Lab 3 (Introduction to Small Telescopes). After that, you should require relatively little help with normal observing procedures.
- Signing In: You must sign in on the Student Log Sheet when you arrive at the Observatory.
- Equipment: We provide all the equipment you will need to complete the labs. This is, however, expensive and in limited supply. Be careful when setting it up and using it. Be patient, think before you act, and never force anything. If there is a problem, do not hesitate to ask the TA for help. Equipment must be checked out; there are separate log sheets for equipment items. Celestron 8-in computer-controlled telescopes (at right) will be used this semester.
- Observing Forms: Observations made with the binoculars and telescopes must be recorded on special supplied forms. As part of lab preparation, you are expected to fill out the first part of each observing form for each object you plan to observe before an observing session. The Manual describes how to fill out a form. An example is shown in the Manual and also at this site, from which you can download a digital copy of a blank form. Forms are also available in the Observatory Support Office (Rm. G25). Be sure that you make all required entries on observing forms, since they are an important part of your grade.
- Before filling out observing forms, be sure that the objects of interest are well placed in the sky for that particular lab session. See Lecture 3.
-
- Safety: Conscientiously follow the safety guidelines given in the Introduction to the ASTR 1230 Manual.
- Shut down: At the end of each observing session, you should return the equipment to its storage place in the Support Office. Stow it carefully. Sign it back in. You are responsible for any equipment you have used. Please be prepared to complete your work for the evening and have equipment stored by the end of the scheduled Student Observatory hours.
- Signatures: Each observing form which you fill out in the course of an evening's observing must be signed by the TA. Forms which are not signed will not be accepted for credit.
- Be sure you complete all required parts of each lab (see the Requirement Checklist for each lab). Failure to submit complete labs on time is the most common cause of poor grades. Keep up with the deadlines; unwary students who get behind can fail this course!
Independent Work
Course Requirements and Grading
The weekly responses are your written "response" to the lecture, and are due at the end of each class, except for the midterm. They should contain at least two points you didn't understand from the lecture, and two points which you did understand (with a description that demonstrates that you did). These should be less than 1 page in total.
The review quizzes are intended to consolidate your understanding of the material in the lectures and reading on a weekly basis. They will be made available for interactive completion on the ASTR 1230 Collab site. Each quiz will be open for student access for one week and will close before the subsequent week's lecture. You should be sure to complete each quiz on time. The quizzes, the midterm, and four of the labs (Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the Manual) are required of all students. The maximum possible score on the required work is 700 points. You can choose among the remaining labs which to submit for the last 300 points. These are called "optional" labs. Labs which do not require nighttime observations are called "day" labs. Two of these (Labs 10 and 12) involve observations of the Sun. The four "CLEA" labs are based on computerized simulations and do not require actual observations. Complete instructions for the observing labs are given in the ASTR 1230 Lab Manual. The "CLEA" labs can be accessed over the internet from the UVa "Hive," and instructions and data sheets can be obtained from http://www.astro.virginia.edu/class/. Contact the TA's to arrange sessions to undertake Labs 10 and 12. Labs vary in length and difficulty and are assigned different amounts of credit. The optional labs are worth 100 or 200 points each. Therefore, you will have to do either 2 or 3 optional labs to reach the nominal 1000 point maximum possible total. A complete list of the labs and the credit possible for each is given in Table 2 below. Final grades will be assigned on the basis of a nominal perfect score of 1000 points. Letter grades will be based on a curve, with boundaries to be adjusted according to the actual performance of the class. But the following grade breaks are guaranteed: 930 = A-; 850 = B-; 730 = C-. If your total score reaches these levels you are guaranteed to receive these letter grades or higher. Lab reports are expected to be well organized, neatly presented, and clear. For this reason, hand-written work, other than the standard observing forms and data sheets provided with some of the laboratories, will not be accepted. You should word-process the text of submitted labs. Follow the instructions in Appendices D and E of the Lab Manual for writing up reports.
Deadlines
It is important that you work continuously throughout the semester to complete your lab work. To help you stay on track, there are firm deadlines for submission of work, and a penalty of 15% of the possible credit will be applied for work turned in after a deadline.
An lab is late if it is not turned in by 4:30 PM on the due date. Submit work in the special ASTR 1230 submission box located outside Room 267 in the Astronomy Building. Initial deadlines for each assignment are listed below in Table 1 but an up-to-date version list of all deadlines are on the Schedule page in Collab.
Note: Assignments are designed so that any student can complete the requirements even in the event of a large amount of bad weather if the student does not waste clear lab nights. If the weather is unusually bad, we will reschedule the deadlines for everyone. However, our judgement is final regarding change of deadlines, and the class will be notified well in advance if changes are to be made. It is up to you to keep yourself informed of deadlines. You should regularly consult the Announcements Page and the Schedule Page on the ASTR 1230 Collab site. To put this simply, bad weather is not an excuse for missing deadlines.
The deadline for each of the weekly review quizzes, which will be open to you on Collab after each lecture, is 7 PM on the subsequent Monday.
- Note: you must do Lab 3 before attempting Lab 4 or any of the more advanced telescope labs.
Check Schedule link in Collab for updates to any deadlines
SKY CALENDAR Spring 2015
Charlottesville Sky at 9 PM, on April 1, 2015 (from Heavens Above)
Solar System Objects for Spring 2015
-
Comet Lovejoy will be visible through binoculars through January after sunset (best when the Moon isn't bright). It will be one of the highlights of the sky this year.
-
Mercury visible in W sky after Sunset in mid January
Visibility:
Venus visible after sunset all semester, but lingering later into the evening by April
Mars close to western horizon in the evening sky (not suitable for telescope observing)
Jupiter well placed in evening sky throughout the semester.
Saturn won't be in the evening sky until May
Uranus and Neptune setting shortly after the Sun, not well placed in Spring.- 01/14: Mercury at greatest eastern elongation (visible after sunset)
- 01/20: New Moon
- 02/03: Full Moon
- 02/06: Jupiter at opposition
- 02/18: New Moon
- 02/20: Crescent Moon, Mars and Venus within 1 degree of each other around 7pm (Mars and Venus remain close for several days before and after)
- 03/05: Full Moon
- 03/08: Daylight savings time starts (Sunday, 3/11, 2 AM)
- 03/20: Vernal Equinox
- 03/20: New Moon (solar eclipse visible in Greenland)
- 03/22-03/23: Peak of Lyrids meteor shower
- 04/04: Full Moon (and lunar eclipse - beginning will be visible from Charlottesville before dawn)
- 04/18: New Moon
Last modified January 2015 by RJP
Some text copyright © 2000-2012 Robert W. O'Connell. All rights reserved.
Course Description (for SIS)
Astronomy 1230 is an observational/laboratory course intended to familiarize you with the general features of the night sky and the astronomical objects that can be studied with small instruments, including binoculars, small telescopes, and cameras. It will develop your skills in operating astronomical instrumentation and in making and analyzing scientific observations. It also explores the central role observations have played in the development of modern astronomy and in our interpretation of the structure and evolution of the universe. The course has two main components: lectures and observational projects.
- Lectures: The lectures will be given Monday nights from 7 to 9 PM in Clark 107 during the first half of the semester. They will cover the observable phenomena in the night sky, principles of telescopes, the nature of electromagnetic radiation and methods of its detection, and the basic observational techniques to be used in the laboratory work. It is important to attend all lectures. Lecture material will be covered on both the weekly quizzes and the midterm exam.
-
Observatory Work: The emphasis in the course is on making your own observations of the sky using your eyes, binoculars, telescopes, and other equipment such as cameras. Most work for this course will take place at the Student Observatory, which is in the U-shaped building located immediately to the west of the Astronomy Building on McCormick Road (see the Astronomy Laboratory Maps). The Observatory Support Office and equipment storage is in room G25.
- Good observing conditions are at a premium, and you will not be able to complete all required work by observing only on the one night of the week for which you registered. You need to be prepared to take advantage of good weather conditions whenever they occur and to work at the Student Observatory on any night from Monday through Thursday.
- Therefore, to achieve a good grade in this class, you must adjust your personal schedule to the course, not vice-versa. If you think this will be a problem for you, please consider taking another Astronomy course. We do not recommend that you take ASTR 1230 if you have a regular commitment that conflicts with the 8-11 PM M-R lab hours.