PH 101L: Introduction to Astronomy Lab
Fall 2015
________________________________________________________________
Instructor:
Office:
Office Hours:
Office Phone:
E-mail:
Course Format:
Manual:
Lab Meetings:
Maria Novovic-Zec, M.S.
ILB, Room 229
Tuesday & Wednesday 10:00-11:00
Friday 1:00-2:00
460-6224 ext. 1374
mnovovic@southalabama.edu
Lab-No Web Component, Lab-Web Enhanced
PH 101: Introduction to Astronomy Indoor & Outdoor Activities,
2007
ILB 135
Lab Schedule:
Week of:
Aug 24-26
Aug 31-Sep 2
Sep 7-11
Sep 14-16
Sep 21-23
Sep 28-30
Oct 5-7
Oct 12-14
Oct 19-21
Oct 26-28
Nov 2-4
Nov 9-11
Nov 16-18
Nov 23-27
Nov 30-Dec 2
Experiment number
Lab 1
Labor Day Holiday
Lab 2
Lab 3
Lab 4
Lab 5
Lab 6
Lab 7
Lab 8
Lab 9
Lab 10
Lab 11
Thanksgiving Holiday
Lab 12
Topic
Introduction
Star charts
No labs this week
Kepler’s law of planetary motion
Spectroscopy
Image size and focal length
Sidereal day
Angles and parallax
Velocity of comet Huyakutake
Solar rotation
Spectral classification
Galactic structure
Supernova 1987A
No labs this week
Hubble’s law
Course Description and Objectives:
Welcome to the lab section for PH 101! This laboratory course is an experimental
counterpart of your Introduction to Astronomy lecture course. Student must pass this
laboratory course to receive a passing grade in the PH 101 course. The PH 101L grade is
a component of the PH 101 course grade. By doing experiments and observations you
will be able to get a more vivid vision of the astronomical principals taught in
lectures. We will not feature the use of telescopes, but rather software will be
implemented to simulate work that is typically performed by using telescopes along with
some other tools of trade. Some topics that we will cover will include celestial and
planetary motion, comets, seupernovae and galactic formation.
Course Materials:
• PH 101: Introduction to Astronomy Indoor & Outdoor Activities, 2007
• Pencil or pen, ruler and calculator.
Attendance Policy:
The lab is an integral part of the course, and attendance to labs is mandatory. You are
expected to arrive on time, and to complete assignments as scheduled. If you need to miss
a lab session, you may attend another section during the week of the missed lab only if
you have prior approval of both instructors! Make up work must be turned in to the
instructor of the make up class attended. I only allow two excused absences per semester.
Any unexcused absence will result in grade of zero for that week’s lab report.
Lab Worksheets:
The Lab Manual is MANDATORY and must be purchased prior to coming to the first
lab. There are 12 labs throughout the semester. Your final lab grade is the average of all
lab grades. There is no “drop” grade. All experimental work performed in the lab will be
documented by completing assigned lab worksheet with answered questions. You will be
working in groups of 3 during the labs, but the answer sheet should be completed on your
own. Late work will not be accepted. All graded lab worksheets must be turned in at the
end of the lab period. Students who fail to do so will not pass the lab.
Students with Disabilities:
“In accordance with the Americas with disabilities Act, students with disabilities who are
registered with the Office of Student Disability Services will be afforded reasonable
accommodations in completing lab assignments.”
Academic Disruption and Student Academic Conduct:
Students are expected to arrive on time, be courteous, and respectful of faculty members
and fellow students.
Electronics such as cell phones, personal laptop computers, and cameras normally have
no purpose in this course. Their use is generally considered distracting by students, and
considered disrespectful and rude by Instructors; therefore it will be treated as an
Academic Disruption. Class time should be valued as a brief window in your day when
you could personally interact with your Instructor and your classmates all in the same
room (so any person or activity outside the class would just have to wait).
Cheating generally means deceiving the Instructor, mainly by stealing someone else's
work and then leading the Instructor believe that you had done the work yourself. Such
behavior is considered dishonorable, has no place in any institution of higher learning,
and will not be tolerated. This includes copying from a lab report that was completed by
someone else -- whether it is a classmate or a resource outside of the class. Anyone
caught cheating in a lab will be given a zero score for that lab, and will be asked to leave.
Cheating also includes deceiving the Instructor, such submitting a counterfeit document
to excuse an absence. Any of these could also result in an instant, final course grade of
"F".