Astro 8A: Observational Astronomy

Syllabus and Schedule

Pre-requisite Challenge - Think you qualify to Take Astro 8A w/o the Astro 3,4,5,7 pre-co-req? We're here to help!

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We do use software in Astro 8A for working with your Astrophoto project. Free software: C2A, CCDOPS, Registax 5.1, Photoshop (or something similar). These are all installed on the Room 705 and Observatory computers,

This is the Astronomy lab class. Paired with Astro 3, 4, 5 or 7, students have a complete UC and CSU university-level lab science GE transfer class. Unlike some lab sciences, you do not have to take Astro 8A at the same time as Astro 3 or 4 or 7. The lecture and lab classes are not structured to be closely parallel in material, due partly to the randomness of weather.

Overview

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, where we each work on projects and I circulate around helping people keep forward momentum, all in an informal way. On cloudy nights, we meet in room 705 and do in-class labs, videos with quizzes afterward, and making progress on your photo project. 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 Becky Snow and I circulate about and help keep progress progressing. The last day of the semester, during finals week, we have a little photo exhibition of student work, 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. We also have a short final exam. It's a fun class! Besides my Astro 27 and Astro 25 field trip classes, this is my most enjoyable class.

Because we never know how the weather will cooperate, the class operates with a lot of flexibility. 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 Can Include...
* Estimating brightnesses of eclipsing, irregular, and pulsating variable stars
* Logging meteors and meteor showers
* Timing occultations of stars by the moon
* Timing eclipses and transits of Jupiter's 4 moons
* Estimating the heights of mountains and crater walls on the moon using simple shadows
* Using our big scope (the 12" under the dome) to take a stunning astrophoto (you'll get plenty of help on this one). Your photo will be published in our on-line gallery.

In-Class Projects on Cloudy Nights ...
* PBS video programs and associated quizzes
* Charting the orbit of Mercury using Kepler's method
* Identifying and measuring craters and mountains on the moon
* Estimating the orbit of a meteor shower using simple observations
* Choosing a beautiful subject for your astrophoto project
* Polishing up your astrophotos and making wall-suitable framed prints
* Doing real science classifying galaxies for professional astronomers or classifying variable stars, also on Zooniverse

Enjoy these pictures taken during our adventures in and out of the classroom, and consider joining us!

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