Astronomy 400
Liam McDaid
Spring 2016
Syllabus
All wisdom consists in this: not to think that we know what we do not know.
— Houng Wu (and Socrates)
Contact Info: Phone: 558-2005, e-mail: mcdaidl@scc.losrios.edu
Office Hours: M – Th: 1:45 – 2:15p, W: 7p – 8p.
Office: Mohr 6
Text: None
Things you will need: A scientific calculator, a pad of graph paper, and a red flashlight (LEDs are
the best). Note: Students who habitually show up unprepared (missing any of the above items) will
get zeros for each lab they are unprepared for.
Class: M: 7:30-10:55pm @ Mohr Hall, Room 5. It may rarely occur that students have to stay later
than 10:35pm. All labs must be turned in at the end of class unless noted otherwise. Anyone more
than 30 minutes late to any lab will receive a zero for that lab.
The Rules: Hold on to this syllabus, as it may answer questions you have later. No drinking or
eating in the classroom. All assigned projects must be submitted in order to complete the course.
Students will be expected to come to every class. Students who miss more than two (2) labs will
either be dropped or get an automatic F for the semester! Regarding other policies, consult your
student handbook for general college policies. Turn phones and pagers off. Students working with
the Disability Office must have and provide to me documentation near the beginning of the
semester before any accomodations will be made.
More Rules: In the continuing war on academia through the bureaucracy of our own administrators,
we are required to put course Student Learning Objectives (or SLOs) on our syllabus as every
professor does exactly the same thing the same way always so that outcomes can be measured
“objectively”. You may have other professors who think this is a great idea. They are, of course, part
of the problem. Here are the SLOs for this class; after taking this class, students should be able to:
- generate, assemble, and analyze data.
- evaluate the effectiveness of data taken.
- differentiate constellations and objects in the sky visible in a light polluted environment.
- manipulate a telescope in a functional manner.
- use a telescope to find objects in the sky.
- use a computer to assist in collecting and interpreting data.
- contrast, critique, and validate data
Class Start Time: Ideally, class would always start @ 7:30p, but because of Daylight Ripoff Time, at
the (beginning of fall, end of spring) semester it will not be dark at that time. That presents a problem
for outside labs, and in such cases class will start late (and may also end late). You will get a
message by the early afternoon of each lab when this may happen stating what the class time for
that evening will be. It is the student’s responsibility to access their Los Rios email, because without
it, you will not receive any messages. Make sure you are contactable. Anyone showing up late,
expecting the class to start late when it does not, will receive a zero for that lab.
Grades: 100% Labs. Each lab is worth 100 points. There are no exams or final. The grade for
your lowest lab is automatically dropped. The final grade will be based on the following scale:
≥ 90% = A
70 – 79% = C
≤ 59% = F
80 – 89% = B
60 – 69% = D
If there was a grade lower than “F”, it would go here.
Extra Credit: I take a dim view of extra credit in general as somewhere along the line in the minds of
students, it turned into replacment credit – which no professor should allow. Still, there is
sometimes an extra activity done during the Monday of finals week as the only extra credit in this
class. This will not happen every semester. It will not help you if you are not within 2% of the next
highest grade. I will say more about this toward the end of the semester.
Labs: There will be a lab every week, it must be completed during the lab time. You may miss one
lab during the semester. After that, each missed lab counts as a zero. There are no makeup labs.
Attendance: You are expected to attend all classes. Assignments not picked up will be in a box in
my office (the Box ‘o Stuff). The last day to drop is April 17th, 2016.
Lab Schedule: This is subject to change and weather dependent (note that more labs are listed
than there are weeks in the semester, so not all of them will be done). Sadly, planets are not
viewable every semester.
Part I: Basic Concepts
Is it science?
Constellations
Apparent magnitude
Seeing & transparency
Blackbody radiation
Introduction to spectroscopy
Light pollution
Digital imaging
Part II: Solar System
Lunar observation
Cratering
Inner planet cartography
Outer planet cartography
Planetary observation
Diameters of Pluto and Charon
Comet observation
Part III: Stars and Galaxies
Nebular/Star cluster observation
Stellar spectroscopy
Absolute magnitude
H-R diagram
Variable stars
SETI
Galaxy observation
Galaxy classification & Hubble