Outline of Physics 231, Stellar Astronomy Lab

Course material can be found online at URL

http://spiff.rit.edu/classes/phys231/phys231.html

Instructor

Stacey Davis
1301 Carey
Office phone: 475-2032
E-mail: smd5659@rit.edu

Class hours

   Tuesday      8:00 - 10:00 pm   Section 85    RIT Observatory 
   Wednesday    8:00 - 10:00 pm   Section 86    RIT Observatory 
   Thursday     8:00 - 10:00 pm   Section 87    RIT Observatory

Textbooks

Sky and Telescope "Skygazer's Almanac 2001"
Edmund Scientific "Star and Planet Finder"

Lecture course

This course has an associated lecture course, Physics 230, taught by Prof. Richmond. The labs are designed to provide hands-on experience with the material discussed in lecture. However, we may not follow the lectures exactly.

Other resources

There is a Study Center in the College of Science, on the first floor of Building 8. A schedule posted outside the room lists times at which someone will be available to help with questions. You may also contact the Learning Development Center, in the Eastman Building, second floor. The Office of Special Services can arrange one-on-one tutorial sessions for qualified students.

If you miss a class meeting, in general, you will not have an opportunity to make up the work. If you wish to schedule a make-up, you must present me with a note explaining your absence, and signed by either your advisor or the chairman of your department. Without such a note, no make-up will be given.

If you have any special needs, you must inform me during the first week of classes. Otherwise, I may not be able to make arrangements in time to help you. Please contact me after class or at my office.

Materials you should bring to each session

All text materials -- Almanac, Star and Planet Finder
a working flashlight which is covered with some red material
warm clothes -- bring an extra layer, in case we go outside
paper and pen/pencils

Possible Lab projects

Depending on the weather, we may do these in any order, or devise new ones as the quarter passes.

What is in the Sky Tonight?
Distances via Parallax
Experimental Spectroscopy
Classification of Stellar Spectra
Photometry of the Pleiades and the color-magnitude diagram
- You can read more about using the color-magnitude diagram to determine distances to clusters of stars.
Limiting Magnitude (and constellation photographs).
Analyzing constellation photographs
Variable Star RR Aquarii
Evolution of the Crab Nebula

You may want to grab some extra observing report forms, in postscript or GIF format.

Those interested in astrophotography should read A Basic Primer on Astrophotography

For a bird's eye view of the planets, check out the Solar System Live.

If you're interested in seeing satellites, check out The Heavens Above page, set to the RIT site.

A good site for the information on the Moon is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Moon.

This page maintained by Michael Richmond. Last modified Sep 5, 2004.