Outline for Phys 373, Observational Astronomy

This material can be found online at URL

http://spiff.rit.edu/classes/phys373/outline.html

Instructor

Michael Richmond
Building 76, Office 1274
Office phone: 475-2538
E-mail: mwrsps@rit.edu

Class hours

   Monday     2:00 -  2:50 pm        GLE-1149
   Wednesday  2:00 -  2:50 pm        GLE-1149
   Friday     1:00 -  2:50 pm        GOS-1365 (computer lab)

Office Hours

   Monday     noon -  1:00 pm   76-1274  (my office)
   Wednesday  9:00 - 10:00 am   76-1274  (my office)
   Thursday   9:00 -  9:30 am   76-1274  (my office)
   Friday     noon -  1:00 pm   76-1274  (my office)

You may call to make an appointment. If my office door is open, feel free to enter. I'm almost always in my office :-(

We will also meet several times at night at the RIT Observatory, which is located on John Street, near its intersection with Bailey Road. Look at maps to the Observatory.

This course provides students with the tools they need to plan an observing run for an astronomical target, operate a telescope, acquire digital images with a CCD camera, reduce the images, and analyze the results. At the end of the course, students will carry out a project and write up their results in poster form (and, optionally, make an oral presentation).

Observing runs

There will be periods during which students will be required to work at the Observatory at night. Each student will devise a scientific project and figure out what sort of images must be acquired to carry it out. Students will perform most of the work at the Observatory to take the data, for themselves and their colleagues.

Take a look at the calendar for the RIT Observatory in order to reserve time for your project. All students enrolled in the course should be able to access this calendar using their RIT E-mail accounts.

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This page maintained by Michael Richmond. Last modified Jan 27, 2014.