Sedgwick 83-cm Telescope
^M
LECTURE: T Th 2:00-3:15 Broida 2302
LAB/LECTURE SCHEDULE
Research Presentations (in lieu of Final Exam)
LAB WORK: Sample Solutions
OFFICE HOURS
| Prof. Tim Brown | W 1-3pm | BRDA 2302 | 880-1618 | |
| TA and Analysis Guru: Mr. Kurt Soto | Tues 4-5 Wed 10-12 noon |
BRDA 2302 | n/a |
Prerequisite:
Introductory physics sequence. Either P133 or P132 recommended (or concurrently).
Required Text:
Look at This!
Final Project Expectations
Papers of Interest:
1. Eggen (1968)
2. Wilcox & McNulty (2009)
Announcements: http://www.physics.ucsb.edu/~phys134/s2010/
Course Description:
This course is an introduction to astrophysical measurement. Students will learn
to obtain and interpret astronomical photometric data, with an emphasis on open clusters and color-magnitude diagrams.
Classwork will consist almost entirely of labs, performed mostly on computers that are provided for the course.
The last lab will be a research project, with labs on different subjects to be carried out by small groups of students.
A final paper on this project
and an oral presentation at the class research symposium will be required.
Each student will spend parts of 2 nights observing.
Grading:
Class Participation 10%
Quizzes 5%
First Lab 10%
Labs 2 through 4 15% each
Final Lab (Written + Oral) 30%
Policies:
Read assigned material before class. Participate in class discussions. Respect
your peers in the classroom. Turn in your own work.
Lab writeups are due at 2pm on the stated due date.
No late writeups will be accepted.
Let me know on the first week of class if
the observing dates or the final presentation dates present a problem for you.
Missed classes that result in missed or incomplete labs require a letter and contact phone number from a medical
professional or legal guardian.
Please note that I will use cgs units in course since that is
the practice in astronomy. You should become familiar with some basic units
such as the solar mass, solar luminosity, parsec, astronomical unit, and magnitudes.
Some Common Units in Astronomy:
1 M_SUN = 1.989 x 1033 g
1 L_SUN = 3.826 x 1033 erg/s
1 pc = 3.0856 x 1018 cm
1 AU = 1.496 x 1013 cm
mAB = -2.5 log f&nu - 48.60
1 &mu m = 1 micron = 104 AA
Wavelength associated with 1 ev = 12398.4 AA
Energy of 1 ev = 1.602 x 10-12 erg
BVR Magnitude Zero Points:
A 0-magnitude A0 V star produces the following fluxes outside the Earth's
atmosphere (Cox, Astrophysical
Quantities, 4th ed.)
B: 6.4 x 10-9 erg/cm2/s/A
V: 3.8 x 10-9 erg/cm2/s/A
R: 1.8 x 10-9 erg/cm2/s/A
Astro Surf Sites:
http://hubblesite.org/go/blackholes/
http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/CosmoCalc.html
http://www.physics.ucsb.edu/~seminars/astro/l
http://chandra.harvard.edu/
http://www.stsci.edu/resources/
http://www.aip.org/history/cosmology/