Office: 706a
contact me
Office Hours
Office Hours
Wed 11am-noon
Fri 5-6pm at the Observatory
and
otherwise by appointment
Very Important!
On clear nights (except the first day of class), go straight to the
observatory (click on the aerial view map), don't go to the classroom - going
to the classroom first will just slow us down tremendously. When you arrive, park along the sides of the road, near the lower well (see map). Do not park on the flat observing pad around the buildings, nor on the incline to the upper well (that spot is reserved for me and our lab assistant, Cade Knorr.
On cloudy nights, go straight to room 705.
Here's how I define a clear night: There must be enough cloudless sky to enable you to locate your target objects with only a bit of patience and get some projects worked on. That means no more than 60% of the sky has clouds, and the clear areas are big, not tiny. Beware of cirrus clouds - those wispy thin clouds. Unfortunately, even though you can see some stars through cirrus, it ruins our ability to do ANY of your projects and so a sky filled with thin cirrus is still a "cloudy night" in my book. If you go to the observatory and after 15 minutes I'm still not there, you probably mis-judged the sky and we're already doing projects in room 705. And vice-versa. Cade has set up a texting list and I will text him with my decision on go/no-go to the Observatory in case it's marginal, and will then send that to the phone tree. But if there are missed texts during your drive in, just.... "Do look up!"
1. Go to Outdoor World or Home Depot and ask for their red/white LED elastic headlamps - for hands-free observing. The RED aspect is key! Red light doesn't make your pupils contract at night, ruining your night vision (and those of your fellow students).
2. ESSENTIAL! You need to have a USB-a thumbdrive with you at all times. The computer work you do on our lab room 705 computers will be "WIPED CLEAN BY THE WRATH OF GOD" as soon as you log out, or are logged out if you walk away from your computer station for even a short time. You MUST save any work on your thumb drive regularly. Especially important for your image project, which will take some time to complete. This semester, in their infinitesimal wisdom, the new I.T. people have enforced that no student or faculty with have admin rights on any computer here. They're "Groundhog Day"'d every time you walk away from them for more than a few minutes.
2. A 3-ring binder for your lab booklet which I'll give you on week #2 (your "Observing Lab Book")
3.
4. pencil and eraser (most
labs should not be done in pen. You'll be doing
corrections along the way.
6. A USB thumb drive so you can preserve any work done on our room 706 lab computers. Those computers are, alas, now "Zombied" at the end of every midnight, it's permanent "Groundhog Day" and all work will be lost unless you keep it. This is not true at the Observatory, where I still have control over the "Spock" computer and we can keep images on that machine for the long term. I'll bring those to the Rm 705 lab at the appropriate times when the relevant lab times come
.
RECOMMENDED
ITEMS..........
1. Warm clothes!
2. Binoculars (Cabrillo has 14 pair
- not quite enough for everyone, and binocs are the best thing for variable star projects. If you have a pair please bring
them.
3.
a phone app that shows you the constellations and the sky, like
4. Laptop Windows PC computer. Late in the semester, we'll spend a fair amount of time in class helping you process your astrophotos, and we only have 6 computers in room 705. Please bring your own laptops if you can.
6. Snacks (chocolate chip cookies are especially delicious to the instructor!)
at the Observatory
Here's the general schedule of possibilities for clear nights at the
observatory. Mostly determined by the phase of the moon. Big moons mean fewer
options as it's pretty bright out there. Notice that the fraction of your
grade which is accounted for by the differing sections below is only approximate.
The reason is that we don't know how many clear nights we'll have and therefore
how much of our work will be indoor projects and how many are observatory
projects. That will only clarify at the end of class, you're welcome to
ask me towards the end and I'll give you my estimate.
Here's my system...Work will be divided between cloudy night in-class quizzes/labs,
and clear night observing projects at the observatory. The percentages quoted
will be adjusted depending on the fraction of clear/cloudy nights and what
we have time for, and what projects happen; for example, the photometry project has suffered recently due to equipment trouble and we've not done it for the past couple of years. I hope this can change as we get an additional telescope with tracking. We may instead make use of new online software to determine the orbit of an asteroid from exposures taken by students on the 12" scope.
A.
Lab Book Individual Projects: roughly
30% of grade:
A --- 85% and above
B --- 75%
C --- 65% Pass
D --- 57%
F --- less than 57%
ADDED Esprit de Corps... Be nice and helpful to your fellow students. However, help them learn to do the project, rather than giving them your answers!
Students needing accommodations should inform the instructor. As required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), accommodations are provided to insure equal access for students with verified disabilities. To determine if you qualify or need assistance with an accommodation, please contact ACCESSIBILITY SUPPORT CENTER (Formerly DSPS), Room 1073, (831) 479-6379.
NONDISCRIMINATION and ACCESSIBILITY NOTICE: The District is committed to equal opportunity in educational programs, employment, and all access to institutional programs and activities. The District, and each individual who represents the District, shall provide access to its services, classes, and programs without regard to national origin, religion, age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, race or ethnicity, color, medical condition, genetic information, ancestry, sexual orientation, marital status, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, or military and veteran status, or because he/she is perceived to have one or more of the foregoing characteristics, or based on association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics
CoVid Era Procedures (I've been told to add this to all on-campus syllabus courses).
Students must conduct an illness/health self-assessment each day they visit campus which includes the questions below. If you answer YES to any of these, you should not come to campus and should contact me for further guidance.
· Are you currently experiencing a fever? Is your temperature 100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher?
· Do you have a headache, chills, body aches, or fatigue? Are you experiencing any respiratory symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, sore throat, congestion, or runny nose? Have you lost your sense of smell or taste?
· Do you have nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea?
By attending this course, you acknowledge that you are aware of the Cabrillo College COVID-19 Prevention Plan and Safe Reopening Plan and agree to abide by the guidelines therein to preserve the safety of yourself and others. You further understand that you will be asked to leave campus if you fail to adhere to the guidelines provided.
Here is a valuable list of Cabrillo policies and resources for you as students
The Official Student Learner Outcomes for Astro 8A
1. Operate an astronomical telescope, including polar alignment and object
acquisition.
2. Measure and chart the brightness of irregular and periodic variable stars,
including error estimation.
3. Manipulate digital images of astronomical objects to bring out subtle morphologies
and colors, and capture the full dynamic range of intensities.
4. Demonstrate the acquisition of digital images, using telescope/ software/
computer control systems, and optimizing relevant choices in the process.
