Physics 30111
Experimental Astronomy
Fall 2006
Ad Astra
| INSTRUCTOR: |
Dr Mike Fanelli |
| EMAIL: |
m.fanelli@tcu.edu |
| PHONE: |
817 - 257 - 6387 |
| LAB: |
SWR 367, x6387 |
| OFFICE: |
Sid Richardson Building,
Room 305 |
| MEETING TIME: |
Wednesday ~ 1 PM |
| WEB Page: |
personal.tcu.edu/~mfanelli |
| CLASS WEB PAGE: |
personal.tcu.edu/~mfanelli/p30111_f06.html
|
Course Materials
Course Notes
Lab A: Night Sky & Telescope Fundamentals
This lab covers the patterns in the Night Sky and the fundamentals for using
a small telescope. The lab consists of three parts: (a) a night sky tutorial,
(b) in-lab checkout of your understanding of
telescopes, and (c) telescope observing (for which you will turn in a lab
report).
- The telescope is an 8" Celestron with a G-11 mount manufactured by
Losmandy Astronomical Products. A
user's guide for the G-11 mount, directly from the Losmandy webpage can be found
here. A local version of
this manual (stripped of links) can be found
here. Please download the local version to your personal
computer or print it.
- Observing location TBD.
- Lab A observing instructions will be posted here.
Lab B: Principles of Astronomical Data
Information to be posted.
Lab C: Astronomical Imagery, Sources &
Databases
- Lab C is posted here. In this lab you will
explore and utilize four major astronomical databases, to collect information and
imagery about a set of celestial targets. As part of this experiment, you will use
these resources to obtain data from four surveys, the Palomar Sky Survey, the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey, IRAS, and 2MASS. This lab will be due TBD.
Lab D: CCD Imaging
- Lab 4 has been excised from the curriculum. Any CCD imaging will be part of
the McDonald Observatory lab, if that trip comes to fruition. Your targets
will be the same
objects proposed to be observed at McDonald Observatory.
Lab E: The Universe of Experimental Astronomy
- Part 1 of the instructions for Lab E are
here.
I would like you to select a topic for your presentation by
Sept 27.
Instructions for the Summary sheet can be found
here.
The template for the summary sheet is
here.
Please have an outline ready for review by Oct 18.
Labs F: The McDonald Observatory Proposal
- McDonald Observatory
- Example of McDonald proposal. This proposal was
submitted in Jan 03, for the April-July trimester. We received 5 nights in April 03
for this program.
- The marked-up LaTex template for this
proposal, formatted in MS Word.
- Hints for writing good
proposals.
- A brief guide for creating FINDING CHARTS
for your observing runs.
Experimental Astronomy Resources
Web Sites:
Sky Charts & Observing Aids:
| NASA's Skyview Facility, a multiwavelength
digital sky atlas |
 |
| " Heavens Above", satellite visibility
predictions for Fort Worth |
|
| Sky & Telescope Sky Calendar |
|
An excellent site, titled "Astronomy Tools",
containing a variety of observing tools, and
some interactive
almanac software. Calculate sunrise & sunsets, lunar phase, airmass,
object observability, etc. |
|
Planetarium Software:
These programs provide real-time data on the visibility of celestial
phenomena, both in graphical and tabular format. They are electronic
versions of the traditional star chart, plus all of the resources of
the Web.
An excellent compilation of products
with web addresses, maintained by Bill Arnett, who also runs
the "Nine Planets" website, which is a very useful source for solar system
imagery. |
|
| A Web-based program, known as the Sky
View Cafe. Very nice package. |
|
Local Weather & Sky Conditions:
| Weather Underground for Fort Worth |
 |
| AccuWeather Infrared Satellite Image of Texas |
|
| AccuWeather Satellite + Radar Composite Image of Texas |
|
| Clear Sky Clock for Fort Worth |
|
| Web Cam of Fort Worth |
|
Detectors, Imaging, & Image Analysis:
| Image Reduction and Analysis Facility
(IRAF) home page |
 |
Image Processing Resources for Teachers:
An excellent web site listing amateur and professional
grade software for image acquisition, processing, and display. |
|
A guide to IDL, the Interactive Data
Language, for astronomers. Developed by Bob O'Connell
at the University of Virginia. |
|
"CCD University", a web resource provided
by Apogee Cameras, makers of CCD imagers for
the academic, amateur, and research markets. |
|
Astronomical Data & Databases:
| Handbook of Space Astronomy &
Astrophysics by Zombeck |
|
| Astronomical CCD Observing and Reduction
Techniques, ASP Conference Series, Vol 23 |
|
| NASA's Extragalactic Database (NED) |
|
| SIMBAD Astronomical Database |
|
Astronomical Observatories & Facilities:
| University of Texas - McDonald
Observatory |
|
| Kitt Peak National Observatory |
|
Dr Mike's "New Frontiers in Astrophysics"
web guide, listing observatories, telescopes
and
space-based facilities forexploring the panchromatic universe. |
|
NASA's Solar System exploration
page, with links to all past, present, and possible future
planetary exploration missions. |
|
Texts:
Sky Charts & Observing Aids:
Detectors & Imaging:
Astronomical Data & Databases