Hello. I'm Jillian Bornak, your TA for ASTR 110G lab section M02. I'm an astronomy graduate student; my area of interest is binary star systems where one of the stars is "dead" (like a black hole or a neutron star) and is eating its neighbor.

Lab is a complement to class, a place to reinforce what you learn in lecture with hands-on experience. I know it won't be fun every time, but I hope that you'll find it interesting. If you can't to my office hours, let me know and we'll arrange a time to meet. I'm also pretty quick to answer questions by email.

At the beginning of each lab I will take at most 10 minutes to summarize the topic of the lab, give you background material, or give a brief run-through of what you need to do. It shouldn't take any longer than that because I want to make sure you have as much time as possible to complete your lab ... also because I realize that you've been talked at enough in class and probably won't listen past 5 or 10 minutes, anyway. C'mon, it's the same for me.

You'll work in a groups of 5 to do the lab. The lab goes fastest if everyone in the group contributes to answering the questions. Make sure you have answers to the lab questions so you can write your summary. When you're done the lab, you may leave.

In the lab on the following week, each group hands in a copy of their lab and everyone hands in a summary.

• Attend all labs and arrive on time. Expect to use the full two hours to complete a lab. If you arrive late, you'll be cutting into your time and it will make the lab harder for you. You might also miss part of the lab lecture which will be helpful for doing your lab. While I know that you may drop your lowest lab grade, don't use that as an excuse to blow off lab. Consider the policy a safety net and come to each lab.

• Prepare by reading the lab before you come. That sounds silly to come out and say it, but you're only going to slow yourself and your group members down if you haven't read the lab. Reading ahead of time helps you understand the material better and gives you a far better chance of not getting lost. Getting lost in lab each time is horrible and boring and means you probably won't do as well on the summary.

• Participate by working through the labs and helping your group. It's dull if you just sit there and write down answers, and you won't learn as much. Think about the lab, get involved in discussions in your group, and think through what we're asking you to, well, think through with these labs. Also feel free to ask me questions on anything from the lab, class, homework, or general astronomy. If I don't know the answer, I'll find it out for you by the next time we meet.

• Complete all assignments and turn them in when they are due. This is easy: make sure you answer all the questions in the lab and that you cover all the summary questions, and then turn in your lab and summary in the beginning of the next lab. Make sure to show all of your work and write down your units every time to ensure that you get full credit (or at least a decent shot at partial credit). Nothing to it!
  • Group lab report: Since you'll be working through each lab in a group, you only need to hand in one lab per group at the beginning of the next lab. Just make sure that everyone's full name is on the front so that you all get credit.

  • Individual summaries: At the end of each lab are summary questions. These must be addressed in your summary. I expect you to write an amount of text equivalent to a half to a full page of 12 point single spaced text. I want your summaries typed, so I don't have trouble reading them. You can hand this in at the beginning of the next lab or you can email it to me. If you don't get an email back from me saying that I got it, that means I didn't get your email.
    Example of a good summary
    Example of a bad summary

• Go to the Campus Observatory once a month for your Observatory Notebook. Campus Observatory will be open a few days a week. As long as the weather is favorable, we grad students will be there; check either the webpage or call 646-6278 to hear the answering machine message to see if Observatory is open for the night. Don't wait til the end of the month, because that's a sure way to guarantee that it will rain and you'll get stuck.

  Make sure you bring 4 observatory sheets (found at the end of your lab manual) with you. You'll be sketching what you see, either through the telescope or just naked eye, and writing down the object's information. Don't forget to write a description of what you see: for example, if you look at Jupiter, describe any colors you see on the planet as well as any moons you see. Also, there are a few lines on the bottom where you're supposed to supply some kind of fact about the object. This should be some kind of scientific fact, and you can look in your textbook or go online to find out a little more about what you observed.

  Bleh, sounds like a load of extra work, right? The reason we require Campus Observatory is that we want you to get the chance to look through a telescope on your own and to learn a little about the night sky. This is astronomy, as much as learning about celestial mechanics or spectroscopy. The telescopes we have are really good, with no small price tag attached to them, and you have access to them for free! There is something stirring about seeing light with your own eyes emitted from an object 2 million years ago. There is something about staring up at the night sky that captivates us. Feed the hunger! Always look up!

• Complete your semester observing project. At the end of the lab manual is a section called Observing Projects. You are responsible for doing project 1, "The Ever-Changing Moon." You will be best off starting this project as soon as you can, for it relies on your making observations throughout the semester. If you're curious about the rise and set times for the Moon, the US Naval Observatory has a page which can calculate them.

• If you're stuck and we cannot help you, see about free tutoring. The Crimson Scholar Residential Mentors offer free tutoring services to all NMSU students at the La Vista Learning Lounge, located in Garcia Hall. Tutoring in a variety of classes and subjects (including Biology, Chemistry, Engineering, Mathematics, and many more) is currently available at the following times:
  Mondays - Thursdays: 2:30pm - 10:30pm
  Fridays: 2:30pm - 6:30pm
  Saturdays: 12:00pm - 6:00pm
  Sundays: 4:00pm - 10:00pm
  

  Students may walk-in or schedule a tutoring appointment. An updated tutoring schedule and information regarding setting appointments can be found at the Crimson Scholar Residential Mentor Tutoring website. You may also contact Jeff Long, Assistant Director for Living Learning Communities, (505) 646-5590.

• Grading

  Throughout the lab you'll notice points associated with each question. The lab plus the summary total 100 points. While I will give partial credit, I can't give credit for questions not answered. Please make sure you answer all the questions in the lab. I want the summaries typed because I'm bad at deciphering illegible handwriting (and typing is a skill that is immensely useful in life). While I don't take off for spelling and grammar, if I cannot understand it then I will have to take off points (and so far I've never had to use this policy).

  If you feel I made a mistake in grading, bring the assignment back to me and explain why you think it should be regraded. I admit that I do make mistakes sometimes, so it's better to double check something I did than to say nothing and fume about it. If you feel uncomfortable talking to me about it, bring it up with Dr. Anderson and he will let me know.

• Making up labs
  I will not be offering make up labs. I have found them to be less effective and too time-consuming. Dr. Anderson drops your lowest lab grade in his final grade calculation as it is.

  If you know that you're going to miss lab ahead of time, either for medical reasons or because of a sporting event, you've got options but the trick is to act early. You might have noticed that a lab meets before and after this one. If you have to miss a lab, you can make it up ahead of time by attending one of the other labs, but you must let us know at least a day in advance.

• Extra Credit
  Talk to me first before you rely on extra credit, for I don't intend to give any. If you come to lab, give a good effort, and do your assignments, you should be fine. If, however, something disasterous comes up, something honestly unpreventable, and you need to make up a lot, I'll work on pulling together a project for you to do.

Date	Lab
1/28	Lab #1: Introduction/math lab Please bring a calculator.
2/4	Lab #8: Parallax Stellar parallax Java applet shows top-down view as well as an image of what we would see from the Earth, and you can drag the star to different positions Parallax like a bigger and better version of the above Java applet, this one even has background stars which shift a bit Parallax: Solar System Modeler Java applet includes variable star distance and size of planetary orbit, as well as viewing angle Hipparcos Space Astrometry Mission our most accurate parallax measuring catalog to date, measuring parallaxes to an accuracy of 2 ~ 4 x10-3 arcseconds Astronomy Nexus: parallax info a quick background tour Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) PlanetQuest planned satellite for measuring parallaxes to an accuracy of 4x10-6 arcseconds Hubble determines mass of a single star that sounds stupid, but it's really quite a feat Lab #1 (individual labs) due
2/11	Lab #7: The Orbit of Mercury Mercury from Mariner 10 (1974 and 1975) Orbital setup Images of Mercury at greatest elongation: color, greyscale Movie of Mercury going from greatest Western elongation Diagram of observations of elongations Nineplanets: Mercury a quick introduction to the history of our understanding of Mercury Space Today: Background on Mercury more background information Lab #8 (group labs, individual summaries) due
2/18	Lab #3: Comet Lab NASA Planetary Fact Sheet: Comets information on selected comets Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics: Ephemerides and Orbital Elements orbital information for comets and minor planets (the "wee rocky ones" of the solar system) Cometography.com a more user-friendly tour of comets, including information on hot ones Nine Planets Solar System Tour: Comets good explanation of terminology and lots of links Photos Nucleus: Halley, Deep Impact and Temple 1 Multiple tails: Hale-Bopp, NASA's Cosmos: Comet tails, Machholz's dust and ion tails, Comet Holmes' dust tail, Comet Hanon Comet orbits: Schematic, Ikeya-Zhang artist's rendition Changing with time: Comet Holmes 3 months composite, SOHO movies of comets(especially Hyakutake, Neat) Oort cloud diagrams: NASA's, Discover magazine's, similiar to one from lab, backing away from solar system Asteroids: Group shot, Asteroid belt, Martian crater, Meteor Crater, AZ Lab #7 (group labs, individual summaries) due
2/20	Total Eclipse of the Moon tonight! Eclipse watching event at the Campus Observatory! Moonrise at 5:47pm, partial eclipse begins 6:43pm, total eclipse occurs from 8:01pm - 8:51pm, and partial eclipse ends 10:09pm. NASA article and Mountain Time Zone eclipse chart
2/25	Lab #6: Kepler II NTNUJAVA simulations: Kepler's Laws Canadian Space Agency Applets: Kepler's Planetary Motion Laws Lab #3 (group labs, individual summaries) due
Woo! Half-way through the labs!
3/3	Lab #10: Spectroscopy Spectral lines of neutral atoms simple periodic table with absorption spectra for each element David's Whizzy Periodic Table shows spectral lines, atomic model, electron/shell filling diagram, and gives some information for each element A35 Intro Astro website: spectra nice diagram of Kirchoff's laws Production of light explanatory website with nice absorption/emission diagram Blackbody applet Java applet demonstrating the wavelength-intensity curve and also showing what color the object would appear Blackbody curves intensity vs. wavelength Blackbody curves intensity vs. frequency Sun's spectrum in visible light Review sheet of spectroscopy (PDF) Lab #6 (group labs, individual summaries) due
3/10	Lab #11: Sun Structure of the Sun Convection, in color, and a solar tsunami SOHO satellite (UV) Full solar cycle image Filaments and prominences Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) and a longer-term movie of CMEs Simulation of sunspot formation Sun movies: Sun spots over 1 month, Magnetogram of the sun spots movie Solar Spectra in black and white and in color Lab #10 (group labs, individual summaries) due First Campus Observatory Notebook due
3/17	Lab #12: The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram HR diagram with size of stars thrown in for fun HR diagram tracing the life of a Sun-like star, and another one HR diagram showing the paths of evolution for stars of different masses, Java applet where you can evolve a star of any mass HR diagram breakdown including a fantastic example using a globular cluster and a huge list of links HR diagram of Hipparcos satellite study of nearby stars Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD): M45, the Pleiades cluster and also an image with the stars labeled HubbleSite Comparison of Stellar Sizes Life of the Sun Java applet which goes through what happens at various stages in the Sun's life Hubble Space Telescope Captures First Direct Image of a Star Hubble Snapshot Captures Life Cycle of Stars Hubble Sees Bright Knots Ejected From Brilliant Star rare super-hot short-lived star kicking off some of its atmosphere Hubble view of Eta Carinae 100 times the mass of the Sun! Hubble imaging of white dwarfs in globular cluster M4 plus older image of M4 and a new image of white dwarfs in globular cluster NGC 6397 Hubble image of Sirius and white dwarf companion the old (white dwarf companion) with the new (Sirius, a B star) Lab #11 (group labs, individual summaries) due
3/21 - 3/28	Thank goodness for Spring Break!
3/31	Lab #14: Galaxy Morphology Hubble Space Telescope Gallery: Galaxies Spirals: M74, NGC 1300, NGC 5866 Ellipticals: NGC 4881, NGC 1132, ESO 325-G004 Irregulars (interacting): Arp 87, the Antennae (NGC 4038-4039), the Mice (NGC 4676), UGC 06471 and UGC 06472 Irregulars (dwarf galaxies): Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy, I Zwicky 18, NGC 1705, NGC 1427A Multiwavelength: Sombrero (M104) visible/IR Whirlpool (M51) visible/IR NGC 300 visible/IR M81 visible/IR Triangulum (M33) visible/UV NGC 1097 visible/UV Andromeda (M31) visible/IR and visible/UV Milky way pictures: COBE near IR, Spitzer near IR, AKARI far IR (more) Milky Way diagrams: top down, cross-section and angled view of the spiral arms and locations of some satellites Lab #12 (group labs, individual summaries) due
4/7	Lab #2: Moon Note that this lab is being substituted in place of the originally planned Lab #16 Near and far sides Craters: diagram, water drop rebound Moltke, Tycho, overlapping Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions about the Moon landings always a fantastic site Apollo mission movies walking, working, falling, and goofing off NASA Human Spaceflight Programs from the NASA Historical Division (which has many more topics) New Horizons Website: Comparative Planetology good short description of the early solar nebula Lab #14 (group labs, individual summaries) due
4/14	Lab #17: Hubble's Law plus pizza party in class Doppler Effect Hubble's Law Galaxy spectra image from lab ... versus the old image Hubble's Law in brief Expanding Universe more in depth HubbleSite: Hubble Deep Field Press Release, Hubble Deep Field movie Lab #2 (group labs, individual summaries) due
4/21	No lab Second Campus Observatory Notebooks due Lab #17 (group labs, individual summaries) due
4/28	Review session Observing Project #1 (the Ever-Changing Moon) due ... or just get it to me before you take the final

Astronomy Picture of the Day (aka APOD) has a different image or photograph each day of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

Space.com is a great resource for easy-to-read articles.

Universe Today is in the same vein as Space.com: a great site to trawl through.

HubbleSite has those fantastic images you've all seen as well as great articles.

Build a solar system lets you calculate your own scale model of the solar system; or, for a more intuitive feel of the size of the solar system, you can visit the Virtual solar system scale model.

While not exactly on topic for the course, I recommend strolling around Atmosphere Optics for a vivid tour of all the amazing things that light can do in our atmosphere.