Welcome

Hi, I'm Nick Ule, your ASTR 105 T.A. and I'm looking forward to working with all of you this semester. To find out what I do when I'm not teaching this lab section, check out my homepage at: http://astronomy.nmsu.edu/nmule/

Announcements

Be prepared for each lab by at least reading the lab introduction for that day ahead of time and bringing the following items: a copy of the lab for the day, any part of the previous lab you have not yet turned in (including the takehome section!), a writing utensil, extra paper, and a calculator.

Lab Policies

* The Monday section meets at 2:30 and the Tuesday section meets at 1:30 both in Walden Hall 232. There will be 13 labs during the semester, worth a total of 20% of your grade
* Attendance is mandatory and will be reflected in your final lab grade. If you have to miss lab one week (for a legitimate reason, which is at my discretion) and let me know ahead of time, or if you are sick and have a doctor's note, it will not be held against you. You are still required to turn in the previous week's lab on time. If you miss a lab and you do not have an excuse, you will receive a zero for that day's lab. There are no make-up labs available (remember, I am a full time student, just like you).
* Read the lab before showing up to do the lab. This will greatly help to prepare you for the day's lab. Before we begin I will discuss the lab's procedure but will not spend much time lecturing about the material in the lab. The class lectures and the lab introduction should be enough to cover what you need to know.
* A scientific or graphing calculator is required. While cell phone's may one day replace calculators entirely they don't always have what you will need to do the labs. A calculator will have more features than a typical i-phone or android
* You will be working in groups of 3 or 4. Each group must turn in one copy of its in-lab work, and each individual must turn in his/her own take home section. Any instances of plagiarism will earn a zero for all parties involved.
* The group lab must have "Group Lab" written on the front and list all the group members' names. Please staple your lab and make sure the pages are in order.
* Labs are due one week from when they are assigned at the beginning of lab. A late lab assignment will still be worth half credit if it is turned in before the end of the semester, but I will grade ANGRY!
* Campus observatory is run on Monday and Wednesday nights from 9 to 9:50 pm. This is a cool place to check out our telescopes on campus and see some interesting objects. Feel free to check it out, at some point in the semester there will be a homework assignment that sends you here. The first half runs from August 29 to October 5. The second half runs October 10 to November 16. If the weather is looking questionable, check the Observatory Web Page (http://astronomy.nmsu.edu/astro/observatory/) or call the Hotline (575-646-6278) to find out whether the observatory will be open a couple of hours before you show up.
* I reserve the right to make changes to the syllabus as I deem necessary. Changes will be announced in lab as well as added to the syllabus online.
* Rules for the university on disabilities, plagiarism (i.e. working together on takehomes and writing down the exact same words), student conduct, etc. are located in your syllabus located at: http://atmos.nmsu.edu/pub/MGS/ASTR105G-M03M04M05-FALL2011/

Hints for Success in Lab

*Read the lab before coming to do the lab this will help you answer the questions and perform the experiments.
*Know how to use your calculator! Most errors made in labs are a result of calculator-student-error. This usually happens with division. While you might implicity know that when you divide a quantity by 2*pi, you are dividing it by the quantity two times pi, the calculator will require you to put 2*pi in paranthesis (i.e. Quantity/(2*pi)... NOT! Quantity/2*pi. The later case here will divide the quantity by 2 and then multiply that result by pi).
*Be on time. I will typically begin each lab by running through the methodology of how to do the lab. If you miss this intro, I might have time to give you a quick run through of the lab, but most likely, you'll have to pester your lab group for the information.
*Count Question Marks: The questions in the lab and lab takehome usually ask you to answer more than one thing. For example, a question might ask you to provide a few facts, and then explain how they are linked together. A good rule of thumb, is to see how many question marks there are, and provide an answer for each one that you count.
*Be interactive/Ask Questions: If I don't know that you are confused or stuck, I won't help you. If you ask me questions, I'm more than happy to help, its actually the whole reason I'm in the class.
*Show your work. If your answer is wrong and doesn't have any work shown I won't know why it is wrong. If I see your thought process I can understand what wrong and help correct it for next time.
*Remember your units. 2 hours is very different from 2 seconds, and 26.2 miles is very different from 26.2 cm.

If you have questions outside of lab time call me, send me an email, or come by my office where I'll be most of the day.

My Contact Information

  • Office Hours:
  • W/Th: 10:30-11:30 am
  • Or by appointment
  • Office:
  • 209 Astronomy Building
  • Phone:
  • (575)646-7724
  • Email:
  • nmule@nmsu.edu