General Information for the Fall 1996 Semester

Lectures are held on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9:00 to 9:50am in room CC235.

There is no required text. Various books and articles may be recommended as background reading during the semester. As a general text, students may find Astrophysical Techniques, by C.R. Kitchen, (Adam Hilger, 2nd edition) useful.

Photocopies of lecture notes will be provided in class on a weekly basis. To defray photocopying costs, each member of the class will be asked to make a single payment of $10 to the Physics Department.

Homework: A total of four homework assignments will be set at intervals of approximately two weeks. Each assignment will be due two weeks after the date it is set. Students may consult each other on the homework problems, on the understanding that the final solutions handed in by each student are his/her own work. Homework may be handed in 24 hours late with a 10% penalty. Homework more than 24 hours late will not be accepted unless there are genuine mitigating circumstances.

Laboratory sessions are held in the Observatory (on the roof of the Science Center). The class will be divided into sections, each of which will meet from 7:00 to 10:00pm one evening per week, beginning early October. The telescope will be used during clear weather, and indoor laboratory exercises will be performed on cloudy nights (the definition of cloudy will be left to the discretion of the lab instructor). Written lab reports will be required for both observing and indoor experiments.

Project: The project allows you to study a topic of your choice in greater depth. Examples include:

1. data analysis or software development relating to one of the existing observational or indoor laboratory experiments;

2. the development of new laboratory experiments; and

3. an in-depth study of a topic discussed in class.

Depending on the number of students, projects may be done in groups. Projects may be assessed by seminar presentation and/or a written report.

Examinations: There will be two 1-hour written exams, to be held during normal class hours. The first will be in mid-October, the second at the end of the course in December.