Homework:  Weekly homework assignments will be set and submitted via the Learning Management System - please log in for further information and due dates.

Evening Laboratory Classes:  Labs are held at the Hirsch Observatory on the roof of the Science Center. You will be assigned a lab section that meets on the same day each week, typically from 7:30 to 9:30 pm, beginning mid-September (the evenings are not dark enough for observing early in the semester). Note that labs meet regardless of weather conditions. On clear nights, you will be working with the telescopes; indoor labs will be performed on cloudy nights. Your teaching assistant will advise you of due dates for lab reports.

Advice on writing up your labs:

"Why are you making me do this?"

We'll try to bone up on good lab-writing skills in this course. This is not only because we need something on which to base your grade, but because these are good survival skills for any working scientist. As a writer of scientific papers, you must not only be able to explain your ideas, but also to convince "the reader" of their validity. If you can do this while also bringing us to your conclusions in a way that seems clear, you are doing a good job. If you can make the reader say "Now why didn't I think of that?!" then you should probably skip the rest of this section entirely (and in the time you save could you give me a few pointers?).

The Format:

Observing lab reports should follow this basic format:

I. Title & Authors

II. Abstract

III. Introduction

IV. Data

V. Analysis & Summary of Results

VI. Conclusions & Implications

Title & Authors:

Pick a title (or use the one I made up for the lab, but, on the whole, I am not very imaginative). Include your name, the date, and the names of the other people in your night's group. They deserve credit for doing their part of the work, but your name must be listed first so I know whose lab report this is!

Abstract:

The abstract should briefly state the problem, the experiment performed, and the result you obtained (don't forget to mention your error estimate, it's just as important). Don't go into any detail, you want to save that for the meat of the paper. An abstract should merely be a concise summary of your paper. Just because the abstract comes before the rest of the paper, don't try to write it first! Once you've written everything else, the abstract is easy.

Introduction:

The introduction section is where you give any background material necessary to understand the physics and the reasoning behind the experiment. Answer the questions: "Why is this experiment an interesting problem?" and "What do I need to know in order to understand it?". State the method by which you plan to conduct the lab. Try to fit every experiment into "the big picture". Don't be afraid to create an entirely new "picture" if you need to (but save this as a last resort!). Due to the nature of this class, it is imperative to include the dates and times of all observations, the names of everyone who helped you, the equipment used, and a description of the observing conditions at the time of the observations (or seeing).

Data:

The data you collect should be presented efficiently and directly, preferably in a logically-organized table. You should always record: 1) the time for each observation, 2) the persons doing the observing, and 3) an estimate of error in your measurements and its origin. Stars should always be presented with their proper name, their coordinates in right ascension and declination, and their common names if they have them. Traditionally, stars are listed in order of increasing right ascension. Remember to indicate which year epoch you are using for your coordinates.

Analysis & Summary of Results:

The analysis of your data is the most important aspect of your lab. Spell out your logic as blatantly as you can, so that the reader understands everything that you do. Remember, what seems obvious to you may make no sense to someone else (As I hope I am not proving in this document). Whenever you can, take two columns of data from your data table and graph them. You may find trends or relationships you did not expect, and this will also help to judge the quality of your data. Whenever drawing a graph, be sure to include a title, label the axes clearly, and include units. (I feel some prejudice in saying this, but-- please use a computer plotting package if you have access to one, or at least use graph paper.) Perform all calculations in this section.

Conclusions & Implications:

Here's where you bring everything back into "the big picture". Make sure everything you set out to do in your introduction is addressed here. Show the reader you understood the experiment and its results. Bring all of your points together in a consistent summary. Answer questions like: "Why didn't the experiment work?", "Why did it work?", "What does the result mean?", "Did I really show something new?","How should this affect people doing research in this field?". Suggest future experiments or improvements on this one.

What I Expect From You For This Course:

I expect that the lab reports will be neat, clearly legible (typed whenever possible), and represent your own work. Moreover, the write-ups should demonstrate that you understood how and why these experiments were performed, and that you can describe them in the general context of Observational Astronomy. This means that I will not accept a 1-page, totally squashed-together report. You must be descriptive-- even in mathematical derivations!