COURSE DESCRIPTION

ASTRONOMY 5

Ticket No. 3132

Fall 2007

 

                   INSTRUCTOR:               Richard Rains

                                                            Voice Mail: (818)  364-7702

                                                            email:  rgrains@yahoo.com

 

                OFFICE HOURS:              Tu - Thu 12:10 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

                

            Lab Book (required):    “Astronomy 5 Lab Exercises" available in book store

Star Finder Chart (required):            available in book store

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION:     This course involves familiarization with astronomical instruments, observation techniques, motions of the sky, the celestial sphere, star charts, constellations, lunar and planetary orbits and surfaces, stellar spectra, and classification of galaxies.

 

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES                

 

1.                    understand the setup, and maintenance of an astronomical telescope and the usage of it to identify features of selected astronomical bodies, as demonstrated during telescope viewing sessions;

 

2.                     be able to analyze and obtain data from astronomical charts and images, as demonstrated in written lab reports;

 

3.                     use star charts to identify constellations and stars, and become familiar with the night sky, as demonstrated during evening viewing sessions and in written lab reports.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Labs performed during the semester may include the following, not necessarily in this order:

·        Angle Measurement and Constellation Recognition

 

·        Optics and Telescope Theory

 

·        Star Charts

 

·        Observing the Moon

 

·        Observing the Planets (Jupiter and Mars)

 

·        Observing Nebulae

 

·        Observing Clusters

 

·        Field of View

 

·        Kepler's Laws

 

·        Stellar Spectra

 

·        H-R Diagram

 

·        Mars Topography

 

·        Campus Service Night

 

Weekly Quizzes: Each week, the session will begin with a brief, ten-minute quiz about the activity of the previous week. This quiz will be given at 7:00 p.m.. Anyone arriving after 7:10 p.m. will not be allow to take the quiz. There will be no make-ups.  However, at the end of the semester the two lowest quiz grades will be dropped.

 

GRADES: The final course grade will depend on the following:

 

                        Lab Reports:              40% of final course grade

                        Weekly Quizzes:       30% of final course grade

                        Final Exam:                30% of final course grade

 

The final exam is an open-lab-report exam, so good reports will greatly aid in taking the final.

 

Things you will need to bring to class each week:

            • Clipboard

            • sketching pencils and paper

• star finder

• WARM CLOTHING!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

LAB REPORTS

Each lab report is due one week after the activity is performed. Late lab reports will be re­duced in grade by 10% each week they are late.

 

Lab reports should consist of the following, in this order:

 

Title Page: Include your name in the upper right, title of activity at center, followed by date the activity was performed; lab partners' names at lower right. The title should be descriptive of the activity performed. For Example, use “The Planet Venus” instead of “Lab No. 3”.

 

Data Page: Include all sketches and measurements made during the activity. They should be initialed by the instructor the night of the activity before you leave.

 

Analysis: In a few paragraphs, discuss everything you did, why you did it, and what the result was. Discuss each sketch, describing what you saw in some detail. Emphasize your visual impressions; colors, shadows, shapes, positions, etc. What did you learn from each activity? The analysis must be typed or word-processed, double-spaced, with font size 11, 12, or 13.

 

Missed labs cannot be made-up and will be recorded as zero. However, the single lowest lab report grade will be dropped at the end of the semester.

 

If a student misses a lab activity, he/she is still responsible for questions about that activity on the final examination.

 

FIELD TRIPS: There will be two field trips to the Templin Highway viewing site:

Tuesday October 2, and Tuesday November 6.

 

FINAL EXAM:  Tuesday, December 18, 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

 

CELL PHONE POLICY:  No cell phone activity of any kind is allowed during class time, either in the classroom or outside during viewing sessions. This includes text messaging.

 

ETHICS POLICY: Any student found to be cheating on any quiz or test will receive an immediate zero on that activity.

 

DATES listed on this syllabus may change. Each student is responsible for current class announcements, whether he/she is present in class or not.

 

Last Day to drop the class without a "W":      Sept 30

Last Day to drop the class with a "W":                       Nov 21

 

NOTE: It is the student’s responsibility to drop the class. After the final census date, the instructor is not responsible to exclude students who have become inactive.