Lab:

	M01: Mondays,	1:30 - 3:30pm in BX102 (unless otherwise specified)
	M02: Mondays,	3:30 - 5:30pm in BX102 (unless otherwise specified)

Overview:

Attending the weekly labs is mandatory. The lab portion of the class will be satisfied by your weekly attendance and participation in labs. It is worth 25% of the total grade of the class.

You need to purchase the Lab Manual as soon as possible. Each person is required to bring their own copy of the lab each week and to READ THE LAB BEFORE YOU GET TO CLASS. If you do not want to purchase the entire lab manual you can use this link
http://astronomy.nmsu.edu/astro/Spr12labmanual.pdf
to get to a pdf file of the entire manual and print out each lab we are going to do (we are not going to do every lab in the manual). If you do choose this option it is very important that you print out the lab well before class in order to take care of any problems. Printer problems, or printing out the wrong lab is no excuse for not being prepared. If students come to class without the correct lab or if they have not read the lab before class I will deduct points from their lab score for that week.

You will also need to bring a scientific calculator (one that can compute sines and cosines, and take square roots) to lab each week. You are not allowed to use your cell phone as a calculator unless it can act as a scientific calculator, and even then you must first check with me. Cell phones should be turned off or silent during labs, and may only be used in case of emergency.

Labs:

Lab each week will consist of two parts. The first part is the lab report, which you complete during class with the help of your group. Each person in the group must read the lab before coming to class so that they are familiar with the lab and can contribute to the work of the group. Everyone in the group must fill out their own copy of the lab so that they have the information needed to complete the second part of the lab, the summary. At the end of the lab each week, every group will turn in one copy of the lab that will be provided by me.

It is NOT okay to split up the lab questions and answer them individually. Everyone must be involved with answering all the questions.

The second part of the lab is the summary. This is done individually at home and turned in at the beginning of the next week's lab. It must be typed and at least 500 words. The summary should address what you did, why you did it,and what you learned by doing it. There are summary questions at the end of each lab that should be addressed, but you should not simply answer each question. The summary should be written in paragraph form, with consideration for proper spelling and grammar. Do not plagiarize, and this includes the lab manual. As stated in the class syllabus plagiarism will not be tolerated, and I have become very good at noticing when students simply copy from web pages or the lab manual. The penalties for plagiarism are severe. You are responsible for knowing the NMSU student code of conduct http://www.nmsu.edu/Campus_Life/vpsa/public_html/SCOC/misconduct.html

Late/Make-up Policies

Lab Reports are due at the end of the lab, no exceptions. Summaries are due at the beginning of the following lab, at which time they must be PRINTED.
E-mailed lab summaries will not be accepted! E-mailed lab summaries will not be accepted! Printer malfunction, running out of ink, computer crash, or any other excuse will not be valid. Any summary that is not handed in at the beginning of class will be considered late. I will automatically deduct 50% from all late assignments, unless there are prior arrangements made. It is your responsibility to make these arrangements with me. Late assignments will not be accepted more than four days after the due date.

Attendance is mandatory. Make-up labs will not be offered. At the end of the semester I will drop your lowest lab score. Please do not leave before your group has finished the lab, you will receive a zero for the entire lab. Please do not turn in a summary if you missed lab that week.

Observing:

It is mandatory that you go to the campus observatory (when it is open!) at least twice during the semester, once during the first half of the semester and once during the second half of the semester. Campus observatory sheets can be found at the back of the lab manual. You need a total of four (4) observatory sheets filled out correctly for each observatory session. I will give you and example of an observatory sheet that is properly filled out. Information about the observatory schedule can be found here (http://astronomy.nmsu.edu/astro/observatory).

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. Reference the sample observatory sheet or ask the TA that is assisting you to make sure that you fill out the sheet correctly!

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 Wednesdays (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. As an added incentive, if you go to campus observatory the first week it is open you will receive 5 extra credit points on the assignment.

Important Observing Dates:

Last night for first half of the semester:	Wednesday	March 7
First set of observations due in lab:	Monday	March 12
Last night for second half of the semester:	Wednesday	April 25
Second set of observations due in lab:	Monday	April 30

Extra Credit:

A number of extra credit questions are offered at the end of some labs. These can be done individually and turned in with the summaries. You must complete the questions satisfactorily in order to get credit, you will not get points simply for attempting them. The same rules for plagiarism apply for these extra credit questions.

http://www.astro.ubc.ca/~scharein/a311/Sim/new-parallax/Parallax.html Lab Schedule: