Number and Title:

ASTR 1020L (CRN 24999)
Astronomy Laboratory

Credit Hours:

1.0 semester credit hours (0-2-1)

Catalog Description:

        A series of laboratories designed to measure the physical properties of planets, stars, and galaxies.

Course Prerequisites and Co-requisites:

This course will be taught in an on-campus format, but many of the laboratory exercises will be completed using on-line resources.  One laboratory per week will be held in a classroom.  Student notebook computers will be used in the classroom in this course. Computers will be required to complete laboratory exercises, access course materials and to communicate with your instructor.

• Completing laboratory exercises.
• Writing laboratory reports.
• Observations using telescopes.

Spring Semester 2010

Instructor:

Dr. John Campbell
phone: (678) 466-4775
fax: (678) 466-4669
e-mail: JohnCampbell@clayton.edu
internet: http://a-s.clayton.edu/campbell/

Office:

Clayton Hall, Room 211A

Office hours:

Tuesday, 5:00 pm  - 6:00 pm at Peachtree City
Thursday, on-line, 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Other times by appointment

Peachtree City, Room 222

In the classroom:  7:30 p.m. - 9:20 p.m., Tuesday.  On nights when observations with telescopes are made, the class will first meet in the classroom.

Texts and software:

Guidry and Lee, Virtual Astronomy Laboratories, Thomson, 2006.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, The Nebraska Astronomy Applet Project (this a Web-based set of exercises available at no cost).

Voyager:  StarGazer, version 4.0, Pearson Addison-Wesley, 2008 (this software item is bundled with the ASTR 1010/1020 textbook).
 

Though not required for the laboratory, the textbook for ASTR 1010/1020 is an important reference:

Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, and Voit, the Cosmic Perspective, 5th edition, Pearson Addison-Wesley, 2009.

Text Coverage: Virtual Astronomy Laboratories: 1-3, 6, 8, 9, 11-16, and 18-20.

The mid-term grade in this course, which will be issued by March 2, reflects approximately 30% of the entire course grade.  Based on this grade, students may choose to withdraw from the course and receive a grade of "W."  Students pursuing this option must fill out an official withdrawal form, available in the Office of the Registrar, by mid-term, which occurs on March 5. The last day to withdraw without academic accountability is Friday, March 5, 2010.

The course schedule for ASTR 1020L, Astronomy Laboratory, is provided in the table below. Laboratories involving observations with telescopes are, of course, dependent upon weather conditions.  Students should expect that this schedule will be modified frequently due to weather.  Three of the in-class laboratories will be replaced with observations.  Those meetings are tentatively indicated in the schedule.  The references in the schedule are:  VAL = Virtual Astronomy Laboratories, NAAP:  Nebraska Astronomy Applet Program, and ETX-LS = Manual for ETX-LS telescope (available in GeorgiaView).

Students must abide by policies in the Clayton State University Student Handbook, and the Basic Undergraduate Student Responsibilities.

Students are expected to attend and participate in every class meeting. Instructors establish specific policies relating to absences in their courses and communicate these policies to the students through the course syllabi. Individual instructors, based upon the nature of the course, determine what effect excused and unexcused absences have in determining grades and upon students’ ability to remain enrolled in their courses. The university reserves the right to determine that excessive absences, whether justified or not, are sufficient cause for institutional withdrawals or failing grades.

Attendance is expected for all laboratory periods, unless otherwise directed by the instructor.  Any absence must be accompanied by a written excuse from a doctor or other competent authority. 

Missed Work