Astronomy 350 - Observational Astronomy, Fall 2011• CRN: 95420, Observational Astronomy, Credits: 3.00• Instructor: Dr. Shashi Kanbur, Rm 124A, Snygg Hall, SUNY Oswego.• Email: [email protected], Tel: 312 2212.• Office Hours: Monday 9.30-10.30am, Tuesdays: 1-2pm, Thursdays: 2-3pmor make an appointment by phone or email.• Lectures: MW, 7-10.00am, in Snygg 106.• Books: ”Introductory Astronomy Exercises”, by Da le C. Ferguson, secondedition.• Books: ”Astronomy Methods”, by H. Bradt.• Brief Introduction to t he Course: A laboratory course which introudces thetechniques and principles used in making astronomical observations. A100is a prerequisite for this course. The aim is to enable you to make astro-nomical observations on your own a s an amateur with sufficient knowledgethat you could probably take things further to the professional level. Wewill cover such topics as– Positional Astronomy: constellations etc.– Light– Telescopes– Atmospheric effects?– Light detectors and CCD’s– Astronomical data reduction– Astronomical SpectroscopyLearning Objectives– 1. Learn basic procedures for recording and report ing of scientific data.– 2. Learn to set-up and o perate a telescope for visual and photographicwork.– 3. Learn the basic principles of optics, photography, time and sphericalcoordinates as t hey apply to astronomy.Grading1– 1. 5-7 compulsory labs based on the Ferguson book with each lab beingworth 10 points. The lab projects should be done in groups with onewriteup handed in for each group. Each member of the group will getthe same marks.– 2. 4 computer exercises from CLEA with each exercise worth 10 points.These are”Astrometry of Asteroids”, ”Photoelectric Photometry of thePleiades”, ”H-R Diagrams of Star Clusters” and ”The Hubble RedshiftDistance Relation” These are to be done individually.– 3. 3 trips to Souther Cayuga Observatory and completion of exerciseswith group each exercise worth 10 points.– 4. Project with the project being worth 30 points.– 5. The exams count 50%, project 20%, labs, CLEA, SCC 25% andgroup participation 5 %.There will be two mid-terms a nd a final with each mid-term and final beingworth 30 points. Each group will also assign a number of points out o f 30to each of its members for participation. The final exam is o n Monday Dec12 2011 at 7 .1 5pm in Snygg 106.Disability StatementIf you have a disabling condition which may interfere with your ability tosuccessfully complete this course, please contact the Office of DisabilityServices.Intellectual Integrity StatementIntellectual integrity on the part of all students is basic to individual growthand development through college course work. When academic dishonestyoccurs, the teaching/learning climate is seriously undermined and studentgrowth and development are impeded. For these reasons, any form of in-tellecutual dishonesty is a serious concern and is therefore prohibited.DescriptionBasic astronomical knowledge you should know can be found either in thetextb ook or www.oswego.edu/ kanbur/a100. Layout of the Course:– Some lectures, some class discussion, some computer demonstrations,laboratory exercises, observing sessions.– Some labs, either here at SUNY Oswego or sometimes at SouthernCayuga High School observatory.– Reading Assignments, homeworks, in class exams and a comprehensivefinal.2– Classroom Attendance: Roll call will be taken. Attending lecturesis highly recommended. Participating in class room activities willincrease your understanding of the material.– Other requirements include warm clothing: we may be going out on theroof of Snygg sometimes, consider wind chill etc. Some lab notebooksand a clipboard. One of the lab notebooks will b e what you hand inafter completing your lab writeups.– Some labs may require a protractor, compass and millimeter ruler.– There will be a sign up sheet to come in earlier and set up telescopes.– Sometimes we may go to Southern Cayuga School (about 30-40 miles)from here to do some observing. This may be at the weekends. If so,we wont have one of the MW sessions.• Web sites to know– www.oswego.edu/ kanbur/ast350f11– www.skymaps.com– Doing L ab Projects∗ Some observing lab projects will be done in small teams due tothe limited number of telescopes. Observat io ns and measurementswill also be done in these teams. However, the analysis of theobservations and written answers to questions should be done in-dividually.∗ Make sure you read and understand what a lab proj ect is beforeyou start one.∗ In a lab activity, all observations and measurements must be writ-ten down in the worksheets provided by the Ferguson book orother handouts. During the class t ime we will frequently discussproblems similar to what will be on the exams. These exams willbe a mixture of multiple choice and other types of questions butmake up exams for t he two in class exams will be essays. We willfollow SUNY Oswego guidelines regarding makeup for the final ex-ams. No textbooks will be allowed in these exams. All equationsthat you may need will be given.∗ The exams will not test your memory of equations but your un-derstanding of them.∗ The first in class exam will be around the end of September, de-pending on what progress we make. I will give you plenty ofwarning and also schedule a review session b efo re such in classexams.3∗ There will be reading assigmnets: these are so that you becomesomewhat familiar with the concepts and ideas you will encounterthat day in class. You are not expected to understand t he materialafter a reading assigmnent.∗ There will be a project which could be a literature review of cur-rent research in observational astronomy, analysing real CCD dataor analyzing some archival data. We may also work on writing anobserving proposal.Please discuss your choice of project with me. There will be a 5 -10 pagereport plus a classro om presentation at the end of the semester. Youshould decide the topic/title of your project by the end of September.– How do I succeed in this class?∗ Come t o class, get the book, particpate in class.∗ Do NOT be afraid to ask questions.∗ Do the homeoworks, reading assignments and understand the so-lutions.∗ Do the reading assignments.∗ Stay current, hand homeowrks in on time.∗ Think about the material, remain open to be moved, inspired bythe