Creative Commons License Copyright © Michael Richmond. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Physics 373: Observational Astronomy (Spring 2024)

This material can be found online at URL

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

Material from an older iteration (2014) of this course can be found at

http://spiff.rit.edu/classes/phys373.s2014/phys373.html

Instructor

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

Outline for this course

Class hours


   Monday     2:00 -  2:50 pm        WAL-4510
   Wednesday  2:00 -  2:50 pm        GOS-1365
   Friday     2:00 -  3:50 pm        GOS-1365

We will also meet several times at night at the RIT Observatory, which is located at 645 John Street, near its intersection with Bailey Road. Look at map 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.

Lectures


Extra Credit Projects

These are optional. Students may hand in up to two extra credit projects during the semester. Each one can earn up to two percent (2%) of credit added to one's overall score.


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.


For further information on CCDs, telescopes, and observing ...


Other links of interest for this course


This page maintained by Michael Richmond. Last modified Jan 31, 2022.

Creative Commons License Copyright © Michael Richmond. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.