Greetings! My name is Mark Gleed, I am a first year graduate student. I will be teaching two labs sections for Professor Holtzman's Astronomy 110G class, Section M04 and Section M06. Labs will be held in the same room that we have lectures, BX102. My office is in the Astronomy Building, just across the parking lot from the classroom. I will have regular office hours, but feel free to email me or stop by with astronomy questions!

Labs:

Lab Section M04:	Tuesdays,	3:30 - 5:30pm
Lab Section M06:	Wednesdays,	2:30 - 4:30pm

Labs are once a week, at either of the two sections listed above. You must attend the lab that you are signed up for every week, NO MAKE UP LABS! Labs are 30% of your total grade for the class. The full lab policies are given in the Lab Syllabus which is the part of the class syllabus under the title "Lab Information". It is your responsibility to read these thoroughly and be familiar with them.

You need to purchase the Lab Manual as soon as possible. There will not be any extra copies available at the lab section. It is available at Kinkos for about $30. You will also need to bring to lab a scientific calculator (one that can compute sines and cosines, and take square roots).

The Lab Webpage has information about which lab we are doing each week, as well as a custom lab manual for the class. I will also try to remind you each week of the upcoming labs. Make sure to read through each week's exercise in the lab manual before coming to lab, so that you are ready to begin.

Lab for this week: (10/19-10/23) Optics: This is lab nine in the lab manual from kinko's and lab six in the custom lab manual. READ THE LAB BEFORE CLASS! There might be a short quiz that will affect your lab grade at the begining of class.

I will add in more links to helpful demos, movies and astronomy information, throughout the course of the semester.

Observing

It is mandatory that you go to the campus observatory (when it is open!) at least twice during the semester. Information about the observatory schedule can be found here.

Important observing information:

Come prepared! Bring at least four blank observatory sheets (found in your Lab Manual). Bring a pencil. Dress appropriately, you have to go outside to see the stars. Don't forget to get each sheet stamped by one of the TAs, it does not have to be me.

Check the weather! Sometimes the observatory closes due to weather. Check the above link for the current condintions.

Do not wait until the last week! The observatory is open Mondays and Thursdays (excluding holidays) from 9:00-10:00. The best time to go is early in the semester, when there will not be a long line for the telescope. Plus, we have no control over the weather, and if it is cloudy the week before the due date, you won't be able to complete the observing.

Dates:

Last night for first half of the semester:	Thursday	October 15
First set of observations due in lab:	Tuesday	October 19
or	Wednesday	October 20
Last night for second half of the semester:	Monday	November 30
Second set of observations due in lab:	Tuesday	December 1
or	Wednesday	December 2