Astro 11: Syllabus
Section 13: Mondays 2:30-4:25 pm, 69 Willard
TA:
E-mail:
Office:
Office Phone:
Office Hours:
Main Website:
Bin Luo
lbin@astro.psu.edu
537 Davey Lab
863-7111
Wednesday 1:00-2:30, Thursday 1:00-2:30, at 445 Davy Lab
www.astro.psu.edu/headta/
General Information:
Astro 11 is 1 credit course for non-science majors, which needs the prerequisite or
concurrent of ASTRO 001 or ASTRO 010 . This class is designed to give you an
appreciation for observational astronomy, and the selected experiments and data analysis is
to illustrate major astronomical principles and techniques. It consists of 13 labs and a
semester project (called Lab 1 in the manual). We will be completing one lab per week. In
addition, we will be doing some telescopic observations of stars and galaxies on clear class
nights on the roof of Davey Lab. Public Astronomy Open Houses on any clear Friday
evening from 8:30 pm are a good opportunity to look through the Davey telescopes at night
objects. (Call 863-1234 ext 7)
So Please Enjoy Yourself!
Required and Optional Materials:
 Textbook: “Astronomy 011 Laboratory Manual – Fall 2006– Spring 2007”
I encourage you to purchase a 3 ring binder for the manual as well as a few sheets of
paper for calculations and observations.
 Planisphere (star map): “Edmund Scientific Star and Planet Locator” (plus instructions)
 Scientific calculator – one that is capable of scientific notation and log and trigonometry
functions (look for sin, cos, and tan buttons).
 An ACCESS computer account (user ID, password, and e-mail account).
 Pencils and erasers for sketching your sky observations and writing your labs. Please
do not use ink for sketches!
 (optional) Warm clothing for outdoor telescope observations.
 (optional) A small, cheap flashlight with the end covered with RED cellophane or
painted with RED nail-polish, to help you see when you draw/write in the dark. (Red
light will not affect your ability to see at night – called “night vision.”)
Grades:
 Semester Observing Project (Lab 1): 200 pts (~15% of the grade)
 Labs 2-14: 100 pts each, with the lowest score dropped (12 grades)
 Additional extra credit activities may be offered during the semester
 Total: 200 + 12*100 = 1400 pts
Grading Scale:
The following is a tentative grading scale. These values will not go up, but they may go down.
A : 93%
B+ : 87%
B- : 80%
C : 70%
A- : 90%
B : 83%
C+ : 77%
D : 60%
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Due Dates:
 Labs are due at the beginning of the next class with the exceptions of the last lab (which
will be turned in at the end of lab) and of the semester observing project (Lab 1). If you
finish your lab in class, you are encouraged to hand it in then.
 Semester Observing Project (Lab 1)
o See attachment.
Late Lab Policy:
If a lab is handed in late, it will be penalized at a rate of 10% of the total value per day. Hence,
labs more than 10 days late are automatically given a zero. A lab is considered late if it is
handed in after the lab during which it was due even if you missed that lab for a legitimate
reason – either hand in the lab early or have a friend hand it in for you.
Lab reports need to be turned in to me or to my office. Do not turn lab reports in to the
Astronomy main office. E-mail me to make sure that I get the lab if you do not hand it to me.
Attendance and Missed Labs:
 Please do not miss labs! Labs depend on either in-class demonstrations or the use of lab
equipment (sometimes both). You may miss one lab because there is a built in make-up
opportunity the last week of classes, but you must tell me about it in advance.
 Please do not be late! The first ~30 minutes will be an explanation of the lab.
 If you must miss a lab for a legitimate reason, tell me as soon as possible in advance
(perhaps by e-mail) and we can schedule a make-up lab. Legitimate reasons are:
o A serious illness (e.g. you were not able to attend classes that day)
o Official university business (e.g. athletics) – You must provide documentation
explaining that your absence is required and officially sanctioned.
o Religious obligations
o Family emergency
 If you absolutely cannot inform me in advance of missing a lab, you must inform me the
next day by e-mail, phone call, or in person.
 If you feel that you must miss more than one class for a non-legitimate reason, I may let
you make it up if you tell me about it well in advance.
 Except in severe circumstances you will not be able to make up a lab if you do not tell
me in advance – it will count as a zero (remember one lab will be dropped).
Make-up Lab Policy for Excused Absences:
 You may be able to attend another section of Astro 11, but you must see me as soon as
possible and in advance.
 You can make up one lab the last week of classes.
Schedule of Labs – Fall 2007
Date
Aug 27
Sep 3
Sep 10
Lab Title
Lab 1: The Semester Observing Project,
Lab 2: The Changing Sky
No Lab
Lab 3*: Celestial Navigation
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Sep 17
Lab 4: The Moon and Its Phases
Sep 24
Lab 5: The Moons of Jupiter
Oct 1
Lab 6#: Spectroscopy
Oct 8
Lab 7: Stellar Parallax
Oct 15
Lab 8: The Inverse-Square Law of Light
Oct 22
Lab 9: The H-R Diagram
Oct 29
Lab 10: Properties and Lives of Stars
Nov 5
Lab 11: The Milky Way Galaxy
Nov 12
Lab 12: Galaxies
Nov 19
No Lab
Nov 26
Lab 13: The Distance Ladder
Dec 3
Lab 14: Hubble’s Law
Dec 10
Make-up Opportunity
* Meet in 541A Davey Lab
# Meet in S5 Osmond
Things to Consider when Working on Lab Reports:
 You must write legibly. I can’t grade what I can’t read. Don’t scratch out things.
Diagrams and sketches must always be drawn with a pencil.
 Always show work! If the final result is wrong, I will give partial credit for correct
intermediate steps. Show all steps and explain reasoning for qualitative questions.
 Always include units where appropriate! Points will be deducted for missing units.
 Clearly label
o Equations and answers (especially if a problem requires more than one calculation)
o Diagrams, including Title, Axes labeled with a title and units, etc.
 Please put your name and section number in the upper right corner of the first page, along
with any names of group members.
 The last question of every lab is a summary question. I expect your summary to be written
neatly on a separate sheet of paper and included at the end of your report. This is the
MOST IMPORTANT part of the lab report (in my opinion) so be sure to put some time
and thought into it. It must be 1-2 well structured paragraphs that address the following
questions:
o What was the main point of this lab? (i.e. what were we supposed to examine? what
was the hypothesis we were testing?)
o How did we study or examine the main point? (i.e. what observations or
experiments did we do?)
o What conclusions can you draw based on your experimental results and/or
observations for this lab?
 Working together is allowed but copying is NOT! You may discuss how to answer a
question or check answers with others. However, you MUST write your own answers
and do your own work. If there is copying, both parties will lose points.
 All PSU policies regarding ethics and honorable behavior apply to this course. These
policies can be found at www.astro.psu.edu/deptinfo/integrity.html.
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