This is the Astronomy lab class. Paired with Astro 3, 4, 10 or 11, students have a complete UC and CSU university level lab science transfer class. Unlike some lab sciences, you do not have to take Astro 8A at the same time as Astro 3,4, 10 or 11. The lecture and lab classes are not structured to be closely parallel in material.
What the Class is About
Astronomy is a bit unique in that we are
very dependent on the unpredictability of the weather as to what we'll be doing.
Because of this, the class has a more free-wheeling style to it than my other
classes, which I think also makes it more fun. On clear nights, we meet at Cabrillo
observatory. On cloudy nights, we meet in room 705 and do in-class
labs, demonstrations and videos. On average we get to go to the observatory
about half the time. In both situations, our projects usually focus on measurements.
Here's a helpful page on the art of measurement.
In-class labs focus on quantitative measurement and calculations using elementary
equations which I'll help you with. 
Lab assistant Dave ("McCool") McKulle and I circulate about and help
keep progress progressing. The last day of the semester we have a little photo
exhibition of student photographs, a pot luck, and we get to assemble your class-wide
set of light curves on our project variable stars. Bonus points are given for
the most accurate brightnesses. It's a fun class! Besides my Astro
27 and Astro 28
field trip classes, this is my most enjoyable class for me.
Because we never know how the weather will cooperate, the class operates a lot like Indiana Jones ("I'm making this up as I go along...") I've come up with many different projects with the goal of picking the right project for the right opportunity.
Night Sky Projects at the Observatory Might Include...
* Estimating variable star brightnesses
* Photographing and identifying exploding stars (supernovae!) in distant galaxies
* Using our photometer to measure and plot the light curves of eclipsing binary stars, like shown at right.
* Logging meteors and meteor showers
* AstroPhotography of colorful nebulae, galaxies, and other wonders
* Timing occultations of stars by the moon, and eclipses of the moons of Jupiter
* Estimating the heights of mountains and crater walls on the moon using simple shadows
In-Class Projects on Cloudy Nights Might Include...
* Web-searching for beautiful subjects for your astrophoto project
* Polishing up your astrophoto's and making wall-suitable prints
* PBS video programs and video-quizzes
* Charting the orbit of Mercury using Kepler's method
* Discovering new asteroids by examining photographs taken with professional observatory telescopes. If we succeed, student names may get credited with the discovery! This project I hope to get up and going in Fall '08
* Figuring the size of the moon, or the orbit of a meteor shower using simple observations
Charlie is dumbfounded - after a semester of estimating the brightness of Cepheid variable star T Monocerotis and all the calculations of all the students to place them on a single graph.... it actually shows a consistent pattern, not random noise! |
Here's the Spring '08 class, with their astrophoto projects in hand. See these photos now decorating the walls of our new observatory. On the white board are their excellent visual magnitude estimates of our variable stars all plotted together. |
And enjoy these pictures taken during our adventures in and out of the classroom, and consider joining us!
