ASTRONOMY 390 – Night Sky

Course Website and Mail-list:

Course Overview: ASTR 390 provides experience with fundamental naked-eye astronomy, aided by the simplest of tools. Observatory and planetarium experience will also be provided.

Goals: (1) develop keen quantitative observation skills,

(2) develop an appreciation for astronomy and the achievements of past astronomers, and (3) develop a good mental model for predicting events in the sky.

  • Evening classes are: Tu (sec.1), Th (sec.2)
  • Class meeting time is published as 7:30-10:30 p.m. Since we will observe the real sky, and it doesn’t get dark until 9:30 p.m., this is a problem! Therefore,
  • Classes will meet (by default) in lab Webster 249, the planetarium Sloan 231, or the observatory uphill from the seed house, site of our initial 7:30 p.m. meeting. Where we meet depends on what we are doing in class and sometimes depends on if the sky is clear or not.
  • Text: (1) Audubon Field Guide to the Night SkyISBN 0-679-40852-5 and (2) a planisphere ISBN 1-928771-22-X. A small flashlight will also be most useful on many occasions; a red one is best. A scientific calculator will be needed for several of the indoor exercises.
  • TA: Pavlo Rudenko, Webster Hall 947K, (509) 335-4083 (no messages),
  • A web resource: (Sign up for mail-list)
  • Office hours Monday 2:30 – 3:30 or anytime when I’m in my office or by appointment.

Administrative Details: Performance will be evaluated by a series of approximately 13 projects. Each project will be summarized in a report (report format specified below). Many projects will be done independently outside of class. Some projects require that the students invent and construct their own measuring devices. The projects will be graded on a numerical score and weighted according to complexity. The composite score will determine each student’s grade according to the table below.Make up points can be assigned for visiting Star Parties (5 points max). Small part of the grade will be based on participation while the biggest part of it is attendance.

Students must keep copies of submitted projects for reference and conflict resolution.

Grade Scale

W.S.U. Letter Grade / W.S.U. Grade Point / Minimum percentage needed to obtain grade
A / 4.0 / 92
A- / 3.7 / 89
B+ / 3.3 / 86
B / 3.0 / 83
B- / 2.7 / 80
C+ / 2.3 / 77
C / 2.0 / 74
C- / 1.7 / 71
D+ / 1.3 / 68
D / 1.0 / 65

Report Format

  • Title
  • Name, Student ID, Course, Section, date submitted
  • Project goal – a sentence or two
  • Procedure and data: the key is to be complete. Include all relevant details, any charts, graphs, photographs or other materials, observation dates, times, places, and sky conditions. If technical problems occurred, discuss them here.
  • Discussion: boil the data down to its essence and discuss its implications. If a simple project spurs profound insight, discuss it here. Be creative!
  • Conclusion: a paragraph that addresses the goal of the project.

Project List

(Outdoor)

Long Term

Annual sky motion

Moon Watching

Sun Shadow Observatory

Constellations: fictitious vs. Greek

Daily sky motion

Star counts

Portable Telescopes Practice

(Lab)

Angles

Solar system scaled model

Stonehenge

Geocentric & Heliocentric World Views

Resolving Power of Human Eye

(Planetarium)

(Constellation Practice)

Constellation + Celestial Sphere Quiz