Astronomy 103
Syllabus
http://brahms.phy.vanderbilt.edu/a103
MTW, 7:00-10:00PM
- Overview and Course Goals
- Course Staff
- Meeting Locations
- Labs We'll Do
- Student Responsibilities
- Grading
Overview and Course Goals
The goals of this course are as follows:
- To gain a familiarity with the night sky;
- To perform observations of planets and stars in the sky;
- To learn how astronomers may draw conclusions about the Earth, the Solar System, and the universe from observational data;
- To understand something about how we figure out the limitations of our observations, and how we quantify our uncertainty.
This lab course has two primary components. One, we will be performing observations in the observing facility, both using 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes and our naked eyes. When the weather permits, lab will meet at this facility. We will observe the motion of the stars over the course of the night and over the course of a month; the motion of planets across the sky; the details of planets through the telescope; bright stars and bright double stars; the moon and craters on the moon. We will learn how to use the telescopes and how to make quantitative measurements with our naked eyes. We will measure the field of view of the telescope. We will measure the visible size of the moon, craters on the moon, and planets. We will use our observations in order to determine how well we have measured these various quantities.
The second component of this lab will use pre-existing data (either obtained previously in the lab facility, or acquired from online collections of scientific data) to make astronomically relevant measurements and draw conclusions. When the weather does not permit use of the observing facility, we will meet in the Stevenson Center Computer Room and perform a lab based on pre-existing data.
Lab will meet every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday throughout the duration of the course. Attendance every session is mandatory. Because we can't know in advance if the weather will cooperate, we will announce on the course web page where the lab will be meeting and which lab we will be doing an hour before the lab begins. However, you can figure out which two labs we might be doing in a given week before that; see Labs We'll Do.
Course Staff
Professor Robert Knop
Stevenson Center 6912
Phone: 2-6165
E-mail:
rob.knop@vanderbilt.edu
TAs
- Martha Holmes (martha.j.holmes@vanderbilt.edu); SC 6619; 3-1706.
- Billy Teets (william.k.teets@Vanderbilt.Edu); SC 6911
- Saurav Dhital (saurav.dhital@vanderbilt.edu); SC 6911
Meeting Locations
The lab will meet every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday throughout the duration of the course. It will meet in one of two locations, depending on the weather. After 6:00 PM on the day of your lab, check the Course Web Page to find out where lab is meeting. You can also subscribe your e-mail account or cellphone message account to get the status mailed to you at 6:10 PM by subscribing to the a103status mailing list.
The Observing Facility
The observing facility is located on the top of the 25th Ave. Garage (also known as the Central Parking Garage). Take the elevator to the 11th floor of the garage; the facility is enclosed in a white fence near the center of the top floor.
At the facility we have a number of 8-inch telescopes which we will be using for the lab. We also have equipment which is helpful in performing naked eye labs. (Not every lab performed in the facility will use the telescopes.)
Particularly later in the Fall semester, and earlier in the Spring semester, it can get very cold during lab. Dress more warmly than you think you need to. It is easier to take off an extra jacket than it is to suffer through not being warm enough. Remember, you will be standing still for three hours on the breezy top of an open parking structure. You will get much colder than you would think from just stepping outside, or from walking from one building to another on campus. You will never be excused from lab because you are too cold. Be sure to plan ahead!
Special note: The 25th Avenue Garage observing facility is a classroom, even though it is outside. Therefore, smoking and alchohol and drugs are not permitted. The TAs have been instructed to assign a laboratory grade of ZERO to any student in violation of either policy. In addition, any alchohol or drug violations will be reported to the Student Conduct Council.
The Computer Room
On days when the weather prevents us from meeting at the observing facility, we will perform labs in the Stevenson Center computer room. This is room SC2200, on the second floor of building 2 of the Stevenson Center.
About the Weather
Do not make your own decision about the weather. The course staff will make the final call by 6:00 PM on the day of the lab. Check the course web page after that time to find out where lab will meet on a given night. Lab will never be cancelled due to weather; if the weather does not permit performing a lab at the observing facility, we will meet instead in the computer room.
The weather can make this lab seem more disorganized than other labs you may have taken. We can't tell you right now which labs you will be doing which week, because we don't know when it will be clear. However, we will generally do the next lab on the appropriate list (either "facility" or "computer room" labs), with a few exceptions:
Some labs require observations taken over several weeks, such as planet orbit labs (for which you will make an observtion every week you meet in the lab facility), or the sunset lab (which you must do on your own time once a week).
The moon labs require the moon to be up during lab. As such, we will only do that lab when we are able to.
Some computer room labs require data from observing facility labs. We won't do such a computer room lab until after your section has done the appropriate observing facility labs.
Each week, the TA's will announce the two labs that you might be doing next week. Print out and read both of those labs, so that you will be ready regardless of where the lab meets.
Labs We'll Do
The labs we will do this semester are listed on the Labs page. The types of labs are described there, and above in the section about meeting locations.
Each week, the TAs will tell you which labs you need to prepare for the next week. Which ones we actually do will depend on the weather conditions the next week.
Student Responsibilities
To perform adequately in this lab, you must:
Attend every meeting of the lab. If you are not present on a given evening, you will receive zero for the work that week. Additionally, your grade in labs which require observations spaced over several weeks will suffer.
Come prepared to lab. Have printed out the lab(s) that you may be doing (as told to you by the TAs the previous week), and any observing templates and other supplies that you may need. Read the labs ahead of time, so that you may be able to make efficent use of your time and finish the lab before the end of the lab period.
Turn in your lab at the end of each session. With the exception of semester-long labs, you must turn in your completed lab at the end of each class meeting. If you do not turn your lab in at the end of the lab period, you will receive no credit for work on that lab.
Make sure all of your work is your own. In particular, There are no lab partners in this lab. Please read that again, because many students do not seem to understand this. There are no lab partners in this lab. You will need to share the telescope with another person, because we do not have enough telescopes for everybody to have their own. However, that person is not really a "lab partner"; he or she is just the person you are sharing the telescope with. All observations, calculations, drawings, and notes must be your own, except when explicitly indicated otherwise. In the computer facility, each student will have his or her own computer to use. You are encouraged to discuss the lab with other students, but all work must be your own. Work which is not your own will be considered cheating or plagiarism, and will be dealt with accordingly.
Keep up with the requirements for the lab. You are responsible for knowing which labs will be done, and what you must have completed. The TA's will not seek you out and hold your hand if you fail to pay attention in class. If you are confused, please do ask! We are always happy to answer questions and help you understand what you need to be doing. However, ultimately it is up to you to make sure you are prepared for the lab, and to make sure that you understand what you need to be doing. If you don't understand, ask questions; don't wait for somebody to tell you what to do.
Grading
Your grade in the lab will be based on the following:
- Lab reports: 70% (lowest lab dropped)
- Telescope practical test: 15%
- Constellation practical test: 15%
On the 8 point scale described below, you can compute your final grade according to the following:
- average grade of 7.5 or higher: A/A-
- average grade between 6.5 and 7.5: B-/B/B+
- average grade between 5.5 and 6.5: C-/C/C+
- average grade between 4.5 and 5.5: D-/D/D+
- average grade below 4.5: F
Lab reports
Each week, at the end of the lab period, you will turn in your write-up of the lab you did that week. (The exceptions are the Sunset lab, which you do on your own time, and the Mars Orbit lab, for which you will be making observations in lab over the course of the semester. Both of those write-ups will be due at the end of the semester.) If you are not present in lab a given week, then you will receive a 0 on the lab that week.
Each of the major parts of the lab will be graded on a 0-8 scale:
- 0 – No meaningful work done
- 2 – You tried a little bit of the lab,
- 5– Partially completed, partially correct, or sloppily and poorly completed. At least 50% of the part of the lab must have been complete.
- 6 – Most/all lab work performed, all questions given a reasonable effort.
- 7 – Lab work and questions performed well and mostly correctly. This will be the normal grade for good performance on a lab.
- 8 – Completed and done well. Your lab could be photocopied and passed out as a key or sample lab. A grade of 8 on a lab or portion of a lab requires true excellence, not simply adequacy, in all aspects of the lab report.
Your "Lab reports" grade in the class will be the average of all the grades on each lab you performed; however, your lowest score (or a zero, if you missed a lab for any reason) will be dropped.
Telescope practical
At some point after the third week of the semester, the TA's will administer a telescope practical. In this pracitical, you will demonstrate that you know how to set up the telescope, find a specific star in the telescope in a reasonable amount of time, and take down the telescope. You will demonstrate that you know how to do this without doing things that may damage or cause undue wear on the telescopes.
If, even after completing the telescope practical, you damage any telescopes or components, your telescope practical grade may be lowered. Make sure you learn how to use the telescopes properly, and how to treat them with care!
Telescope practicals will be administered individually. If you typically share a telescope with somebody else during lab periods, do not count on the other person to "know the scope."
Telescope practicals will be graded on a 9-point scale. Each of the three sections (set-up, operating the telescope and finding the star, and teardown) are weighted equally. A point will be deducted from your grade (starting at 9) in each section for each of the following:
- you commit a "major flaw" (e.g. moving the telescope with the wrong clamps engaged) on one or two sections;
- for each five minutes that elapses, or each retry you must make, finding and focusing on the star indicated by your examiner;
- you two minor flaws in any one section.
Constellation Practical
After completing the "constellations and bright stars" lab, you will be asked to identify 8-10 constellations and name 6-8 bright stars. You will point out these constellations and stars to a TA.
You will receive 1/2 of a point point for each constellation or bright star named (although you cannot receive more than 5 points for constellations, or more than 4 points for bright stars). The constellation practical will be graded on the standard 8-point scale.