Physics 406: Introduction to Modern Astronomy, Lab Info Sheet

Lab Times: The first labs will be held the week of January 28. Indoor labs begin promptly at 6:10 pm or 8:10 pm. If it looks clear or only partly cloudy, we are likely to go outside, so arrive early (i.e. on the hour) for outdoor labs. If you arrive on your scheduled lab night and time and we are not there, we've left for the observatory. A map showing its location, west of the field house, is on the physics 406 bulletin board. If you arrive late, be sure to check in as we will be taking attendance. Please refer to the Lab Schedule if you are unsure when your Group meets and what is planned. For Labs #3 and 4, which will be done starting the week of Feb 19, please bring the Astronomy Media Workbook (by LoPresto) along for your work with Skygazer.

Required Work: Combined with the term paper, lab work contributes to 25% of your overall grade, which works out to 2.5% of your total grade per lab. There will be eight indoor labs, the planetarium visit, and at least one, hopefully two (weather permitting) outdoor labs and/or the Radio Telescope lab. You are expected to read the labs and recommended readings ahead of time. Bring your Lab manual and a calculator to each indoor lab. You will need a pencil, paper, and a hard surface for sketches for the outdoor lab.

 

PDF-Files of Lab Manuals:
They can be found under "Documents" on the Blackboard site. They will appear as we go.

Discussion vs. Copying: While discussion of the lab with your partner and other classmates is encouraged, wholesale copying is not and will be penalized. In such cases, we typically divide the grade evenly between the copiers. Your final responses should be your own. Plagiarism and academic fraud is seen as a serious offence by the University.

Grading: Each lab will be graded on a ten point scale. Thoughtfulness of response and contributing calculations may count towards partial credit, although there may be little opportunity for this, as most of the labs are broken down step by step. Neatness counts! If we can't read it, we can't grade it. Be on time!!

Make-up Points: We would like everyone to earn perfect scores on at least 8 out of 10 labs; however, this will not always work out. If you are unsatisfied with your lab grade, you may earn back up to half of the lost points in an indoor lab or up to three-quarters of the lost points of the outdoor lab by going through the lab again with your TA during office hours or by appointment. For outdoor lab make-ups, you will be expected to rewrite the sections where you lost the points, but only after conferring with your TA. These make-ups should be done as soon as possible after receiving the graded lab, while the material is still fresh in your mind.

Make-up Labs: Due to various scheduling constraints, these are very, very difficult to arrange, and require a good excuse. Still, if you have one, we will do what we can to accommodate you. It is your responsibility to seek out a make-up lab. Typically, we will try to put you into another section doing the lab that you missed. We may also run a few make-up labs towards the end of the term.

Due Dates: All indoor labs are due at the end of that night's lab session. The outdoor lab requires som additional research and will be due two weeks after your lab class, at 5 pm. Such labs should be placed inside your TA's lab report bin (with the clear, plexiglass door) on the first floor of DeMerrit; please do not put them in your TA's mailbox.

Late Policy: Each day late costs 2 points! Three quarter credit will be given if a lab is up to a week late. After that it will be given half credit. No labs will be accepted after the day of the Final Exam, May 14th. Notify your TA immediately if you have extenuating circumstances. Late labs should also be placed in your TA's lab report bin.

Outdoor Labs: You should be prepared to go out on any lab night. Weather in New Hampshire can be fickle, so we'll take advantage of it when we can, and it can change from the afternoon to evening. Dress warmly! You are going to be standing around outside in the cold for nearly two hours, so you'll have a lot longer to appreciate the cold than walking between classes. Also, the temperature can drop 20 degrees or more at night. We advise wearing multiple layers, as well as a hat and appropriate footwear: we have to tromp through the field to get there. Be sure to have pencil, paper, and a hard surface for sketching. When writing the report, Kuhn is a good resource, but need not be the only resource for all of your responses. If you want to see more of the observatory, you may wish to attend one of the open nights offered twice a month.

Course Papers: The main guidelines for writing the outdoor lab reports and the Term Paper, due at the end of the semester, are found in the Outdoor Lab Manual, but you may benefit from this additional advice. This is a science course, not a history or philosophy course, so, while historical information and philosophical insights may serve to put the subject of your paper into context, the bulk of your paper should be science-oriented. By science-oriented, we mean that we are looking for both descriptive information about the object, theorem, or phenomenon, as well as justifications for that information. How do we know what we know, and why do we believe what we believe? This kind of material should dominate the paper, and should, on its own, fulfill the page requirements. Even well-written papers which do not include such justification can earn no more than a B. Justifying your assertions in a scientific paper is just as important as in a literary or historical paper.

If you find yourself having to enlarge the font size, play with margins, or repeat your points in order to meet the page requirements (remember, your TAs were students once, too!), you probably need to do more research or look for a new topic. For this reason, you should start thinking about a topic as soon as possible, and begin reserach at least three weeks in advance.

Proofread! Proofread! Proofread! Have a friend read your paper to make sure that it is clearly written and understandable, as well as grammatically sound. This should also help you catch places where you haven't defined jargon. Assume your reader is intelligent, but hasn't necessarily taken an astronomy class.

The UNH Writing Center is another valuable resource for advice on writing papers.

Chris Siren.