Telescope Observations

Option A: Telescope Observations For this activity, if you are not a local student, you can still do this activity! You just have slightly different instructions, which can be found here. If you are a student at University Park campus, you will go to the rooftop observatory on the 6th floor of Davey Lab. There, a TA or TAs will have telescopes set up and pointed at common objects, including the Moon, planets, binary stars, star clusters, and perhaps even a galaxy.  The TA on duty at the observatory will provide you with sheets for sketching, and you will be required to answer questions related to the observation, as well. Be sure to write your Astro 11 section (Either your section number, Instructor’s name, or class day & time) on your worksheets. Your sketches and responses to the questions should be turned in to the TA on duty before you leave the observatory, they should not be turned in to your Astro 11 instructor. Bring a pen or pencil. University Park sessions will be offered at Davey Lab every Monday through Thursday evening from Jan 20 - April 25, and run from 8:30-10:00pm. You need not sign up in advance -- just show up at Davey Lab at the designated time. The activity starts promptly at 8:30pm -- BE ON TIME. Students arriving late may not have time to finish. Whether you are observing at Davey Lab or elsewhere, dress appropriately for the weather, because using the telescopes involves standing outside for a long time! The University Park telescope is not open if the sky is not clear, or during school breaks or University holidays. To check if it will be clear enough to use the Davey Lab telescope, see the observing status webpage at http://www.astro.psu.edu/academics/telescope-status The telescope activity is offered ONLY during the time period Jan 20 - April 25. Note it is not open at the very end of the semester. Lines are shorter at the beginning of the semester, so come as early as possible! You are certainly welcome to complete some of your observations for Options C and D while you are outside making observations for Option A. Warning: because it is so often cloudy in many locations (including State College!), the rooftop telescopes are often closed, just as astronomy club stargazing sessions are often cancelled due to weather. Therefore you need to keep an eye on the weather and go on the first clear night that you possibly can! If you pass up clear nights during the first nine weeks and put it off until the tenth week and the telescopes are clouded out, you will have to do the activity for partial credit during the makeup period. And if you then put that off and get clouded out again, you will miss it and get a zero. So please, don’t procrastinate! Review: Full, Anonymous: No The goal of Option A is to obtain observations of at least 2-3 objects in the night sky with some tool besides your naked eye. If you are student at the University Park campus, this "option" is required , and will be done in person and you don't need to submit anything on Angel. You just need to show up at the appointed time (see Semester Project Instructions for full details ), on a clear night, on the roof of Davey Lab with a pen or pencil. The telescopes will be set up for you, and worksheets for sketching and answering questions about what you see will be provided. You will turn in the worksheets (usually two worksheets, each double-sided) before you leave, and they will be returned to your lab instructor and graded. You should see your grade for the activity appear in the Angel gradebook within 2-3 weeks of completing the activity. If you live far away from State College and it is not practical or possible for you to come to campus to use our telescopes here, you can still do this activity if you want to. If you have access to a telescope or a pair of binoculars, you should attempt to observe AT LEAST THREE OBJECTS from the list below on your own and sketch what you see following the guidelines below. If you personally do not have access to a telescope or binoculars, or if you do but you're not sure how to use them, it is still possible for you to do the activity! It will just require a little more work in planning on your part, and you will have to start early : 1 . Look for a local astronomy club near you. In the United States, you can start by using the list of clubs that are part of the Night Sky Network: ( http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/club-list.cfm . They can help you use the equipment you have, or let you use their portable equipment at their next public event. 2 . If you can't find an astronomy club, try the universities or other schools in your area to see if they have an observatory. Most observatories have “open house” observing nights, so you can also try to make your observations there. 3 . Get in touch with them and find out when they are hosting a telescope viewing session that you can attend, or if they are willing to plan one. 4 . Ask if they will help you observe the objects on your list. If they will be observing other objects NOT on your list, you can substitute what they DO observe for the objects on your list with the sole exception that no single stars are allowed to be observed to complete this lab. (Single stars are too simple! They appear as just a dot through a telescope or binoculars.) 5 . If the weather is clear on the appointed night, go to the observing session. If it is not, plan for another night. Keep trying until you get a clear night. (If the end of the semester is approaching and you haven't been able to make it on a clear night, you might need to choose another option for the project.) 6 . This is critical: Be sure to take paper for sketching and a writing implement with you to the observing session!! Your sketches must be made while you're there. Ask a club member, volunteer, or another fellow attendee for help to make sure you know what object you're viewing. 7 . A sample telescope or binocular observations is given below to give you an idea of what is required. Telescopic or binocular observations capture a very small portion of the sky, and give you a round field of view. Draw your observations within a circle that represents the edge of your field of view, and be sure to sketch everything significant that you see in the field of view. Along with your sketch, be sure to include the name(s) of the object(s) seen, label them on the sketch, and record the date , time , location , observing instrument used, and weather/sky conditions along with your sketch. Also include a brief verbal description of what you saw, including any colors , even if subtle. 8 . You may wish to bring a small source of light for reading, such as a penlight. A bright flashlight is poor etiquette at a telescope when it's dark, as it interferes with observations. 9 . Scan in (or take a digital photograph) of the worksheets and upload them to the dropbox below (see the "instructions for including images" file found under the "lessons" tab. DO NOT email your submission to your instructor! 10 . See the file "A sample telescope or binocular observation" (found in the "Semester Project Folder) to get an idea of what is required. You can start your observation on a blank piece of paper, writing in all of the required information, but it should follow the form shown in the example. Choose THREE OBJECTS from the following table according to the date and your location (or substitute any other non-star objects, e.g. planets or the moon) and make a separate sketch of EACH of your three objects following the guidelines above. See a sample sketch below.