may be updated further for Fall '24 as opening day gets close.
Remember our Rule #1: Clear Skies = go to the observatory. Cloudy skies = go to classroom 705. If it's mostly clear then we'll probably still go to the observatory. If it's almost completely cloudy, we'll go to the classroom. If it's questionable and you go to the observatory and no one shows up by class start, then we must be in the classroom. And vice versa. If the gate to the observatory remains locked and it's cloudy - that's a sure sign we're at the classroom. Below is the nightly plan if skies are clear. Note that you should follow your lab book at all times! That means every class night you do your visual variable stars, watch for meteors, and observe binary stars and deep sky objects. When there's a bright moon, we can't do deep-sky photo projects or deep-sky telescope projects, as noted below. You can still do your variable stars, your binary stars project, and others not requiring dark skies. For the first night, we meet indoors in room 705 regardless of the weather.
Aug 27 - Meet in 705: Introduction, some basics. Intro to Choosing your Astrophoto Project (done: in classroom)
Sep 3 - no moon, all projects possible
Sep 10 - first quarter moon, photo projects in Sagittarius area impossible. Lunar occultation of a binary star.
Sep 17 - Full moon and shallow lunar eclipse at moonrise/sunset. Meet not at the Observatory; will be last minute decision.
Sept 24 - No moon, good for almost all projects
Oct 1 - No moon, good for almost all projects
Oct 8 - 33% evening crescent moon. Still good for all projects. 1 lunar occultation.
Oct 15 - 98% near full moon. Photo projects not possible. Deep sky searching will be tough.
Oct 22 - No moon, good for almost all projects
Oct 29 - No moon, good for almost all projects
Nov 5 - 15% eve crescent moon, good for almost all projects
Nov 12 - 90% moon; no astrophotography except maybe globular clusters
Nov 19 - No moon, good for almost all projects
Nov 26 - No moon, good for almost all projects, but may or may not go to Observatory; we need to process our astrophotos.
Nov 29 Friday - Deadline for submitting your .jpg and labels for the online Student Gallery of your astrophoto projects
Dec 3 - Last regular night of the semester - Go to 705 regardless of weather. we'll spend it at the computers in 705 working on your astro photos.
Dec 10 - 6-9pm. In-class final. Convolve together our light curves, assign winners, turn in your
lab book and framed print with documentation hardcopy labels, photo of the class for our ScrapBook!.