ASTRONOMY 101 Observational Astronomy E041 Fall 2011
Instructor: Douglas Fowler Office: Room 1075
Class
meets Mondays, 7:00pm – 9:30pm , Rm. 1069 Office Phone: 832-2851
Course Number 1862 Office
Hours: M,W, F 11:00am-11:50am, Th 11-11:50am
The
class runs from September 12th through December 12th. There is no final.
Text:
Pasachoff, Jay M., A Field Guide to
Stars and Planets (4th ed.) (in the Peterson Field Guides
series), Boston
Other
requirements:
A Notebook dedicated to Astronomy Lab – The notebook
will be the major part of your grade!
A Calculator (one that you know how to use)
Lab
Groups: Students will work in groups of three or four. Each student will
present written laboratory notes at the conclusion of each class. For some (not many) of the experiments (to be
announced by the instructor), the group will submit a lab report. Each member
of the group will participate in collecting and analyzing the experimental
data. Each member of the group is
expected to participate in writing the group reports! These must be done on a
word processor and adhere to a uniform format.
Note:
In reality, we will do
very few of these, but I put this here for the purpose of showing you what
should be kept in mind when doing anything scientific.
Lab reports:
When
required, these should follow the following outline:
1. The
title of the experiment, the date it was performed, and the names of the
captain and other members of the lab group. This can be on a separate title
page or on the top of the first page of the report.
2. A
brief introduction that addresses the following: WHAT is to be measured, HOW
it is to be measured, and for what
PURPOSE it is being measured (i.e. what is to be accomplished/learned from
this experiment).
3. Data.
This should include an organized presentation (usually tables) of all
appropriate data (including units!)
and an indication of the precision of each measurement.
4. Data
analysis. This should include graphs,
sample calculations, and responses to any questions posed in the lab
manual. Pay attention to significant figures!
5. Error
analysis. List and discuss,
quantitatively whenever possible, sources of error.
6. Conclusions. A brief summary of what you did, what you found and what you learned.
7.
A
list of citations in the form of a bibliography.
8.
The
“original” or “raw” data sheet must be appended as the last page of the report.
Note: This
next item is really, really important for any of our work. Always cite your sources! The core of the
in-lab work material for this course will be looking up and using a wide
variety of maps, charts, books, websites and so on. Reference everything!
Citations: Any reference to the lab
manual or other books should be cited properly in the text and included in the
bibliography. For example, you might write something like: “Cochran (2005)
describes an apparatus for determining the moment of inertia for a rotating
system.” Or, “The moment of inertia of the rotating system can be determined
from the following equation (Cochran, 2005):” In the bibliography you would
then list something like this (depending on what style guide you use):
Cochran, W. The physics lab manual
II (3rd revised
edition), Youngstown ,
OH
Note:
ANYTHING that you look up for this class must be cited with complete
bibliographic data.
Grading:
You grade will be based on:
(1) laboratory notes and participation Note:
Attendance will count and be checked each lab.
(2) any handed-in lab reports and/or assignments
(3) your notebook/journal near the end of the
course. Notes will be checked at the conclusion of each lab.
(4) rare, but possible quizzes or exams.
We will simply accumulate points based on the
various assignments to given in class. This also means that must show up to class.
I will not take attendance, but if you routinely skip class I cannot be the one
responsible for your work or grade. Grades will be assigned on the following
percentage scale:
|
A
|
90-100 %
|
|
B+
|
86-89 %
|
|
B
|
80-85 %
|
|
C+
|
76-79 %
|
|
C
|
70-75 %
|
|
D+
|
66-69 %
|
|
D
|
60-65 %
|
|
F
|
0-59 %
|
NOTE: I do not do email everyday, but you
can feel free to email me at:
douglas.fowler@uwc.edu
but do not expect me to write back to you
with complete details of what we covered in a given
class.
Laboratory work requires that you be there in person.
Last
thoughts:
“Well,” said Stuart, “a misspelled word is an
abomination in the sight of everyone. I consider it a very fine thing to spell
words correctly and I strongly urge everyone of you to buy a Webster’s
Collegiate Dictionary and consult it whenever you are in the slightest
doubt.”
From Stuart Little, by E, B, White
Recommended: The Elements of
Style, William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White
And
what is good, Phaedrus, and what is not good –need we ask anyone to tell us
these things?”
Socrates
talking with Phaedrus in Plato’s Symposium,
as quoted by Robert M. Pirsig in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance,
an excellent discussion of what might be
meant by quality in, among other
things,
good technical work.
Notebook/Journal/Observing
Log
A
major part of your grade will be based on the notebook that you keep for this
class. It will be well-organized, neat,
dated, etc. Entries will be built
around:
1.
Real-sky observations we make in the lab on clear nights.
2.
Real-sky observations that you will make outside of class on your own.
3.
Indoor work that we do in the lab.
4.
Any additional thoughts or writing that you wish to do that is built around
astronomy or anything related to astronomy. Creative writing is acceptable
here.
From
time to time I will post things related to this class on my blog:
