Project Instructions Please Read Thoroughly!
Project Instructions – Please Read Thoroughly!
For this assignment, you must attend an Observing Night at the Campus TeachingObservatory ( and then answer the questions on this form (attached after this instruction page) about the celestial objects you viewed during your visit. This Observing Project Report is worth 20% of your final course grade.
The Observing Nights occur everyFriday night during term (except holidays), plus one Tuesday per month, from 8:30-10:00 PM,weather permitting. The relevant Tuesday dates are 6th Sept., 27th Sept., 25th Oct. Tocomplete this assignment, you must go to one of the Observing Nights, sign your name in the Guestlog book, observe at least two objects, receive a token from the personrunning the observing, and then submit this report along with the token.Take this assignment handout with you to sketch your observations and take notes on what you saw at the telescope – show your sketches and notes to one of the staff members at the observatory so that you can get your token.To receive the token, you must be able toview a minimum of two astronomical objects during your visit. If the weather is cloudy, and you do not observe at leasttwo objects, you will not receive the token, and you will have to return for another visitduring better weather to complete this assignment.So do not wait until thelast possible date to go to the Observatory - if it is cloudy, you may find yourself out of luck.
Your report will be given a grade out of 50 points based on both itscontentand thewriting quality. This means I expect the reportto be spell-checked, readable, and written with good grammar and paragraph structure. The completed formsshould be handed in during class with your observing token attached.Reports with handwritten answers (aside from the required sketch)will not be accepted.When typing in your answers on this form, use a maximum of 12-point font size, single or 1.5-line spacing (do not use double-space), and do not adjust the document margins. Please maintain one page for each question even if you don’t fill in the entire page. For the online research that will most likely be needed, Wikipedia may be used as a starting point only and may not be cited as a source.
The deadline for completing and handing in this assignment is Thursday Oct.27th 2016, in class. However, you are strongly advised to complete the observing part of the exercise by Oct.7th to avoid the chance of weather disruption.
If you have a conflict(religious or work-related) such that you are unable to attend any Friday or Tuesday nightduring term, pleasecontact me by email or in person no later than the end of Septemberso that alternative arrangements can be made.
Observatory Report
AST1002
Attach Token Here:
Name: ______
Date of the observation:______
Time of the observation:______
1. Make a sketch of both objects you observe at the Campus Teaching Observatory (choose any two if you observed more than two). Include the type of object (e.g. planet), name (e.g. Jupiter) and approximate distance of each object from Earth (you may look for this information in your textbook or online but give a reference for your number).Incorporate details in your sketch as appropriate for the object, for example, object color, and/or relative positions and brightness (if you see multiple objects simultaneously through the eyepiece). Sketch only what you see through the telescope, NOT what you think it should look like or what it looks like in pictures.
Object Name: Object Type: Object Distance:
Sketch:
Object Name: Object Type: Object Distance:
Sketch:
2. Describe what you observed through the telescope. Try to be as detailed and specific as possible. For example, describe the color, shape, or brightness of each object. Describe only what you saw through the telescope, NOT what you think it should look like or what it looks like in pictures. If the view through the telescope varied much from your expectations, please describe how and explain why you think the objects look different.
3. Explain the nature (type of object) and astronomical significance (e.g., why it is important for astronomers to study this object or type of objects) of both of the objects you observed. Look for this information in your textbook or online. Providereferences(NOT Wikipedia!) for where you found your information.
4. Choose one of your objects. Find a news article written about this object or class of objects published in the last 5 years (e.g. from a newspaper/magazine or online news site). Briefly summarize the article. Describe how this article relates to information you have learned in class. Did it present new information about the object(s) that you did not already know? Based upon your knowledge from class, do you find the reporting in this article to be accurate? Please explain. Please reference your article. The format of the reference is at your discretion, but should contain sufficient information to find the original article.
5. Choose one of your objects (it can be the same one used in #4). Formulate a question you have about this object or type of objects, and explore how you would go about finding the answer. Write down (a) the question you would like to investigate; (b) what you think the answer may be – your hypothesis – based on what you have learned in class and during this observing project; and (c) a detailed description of how you would test your hypothesis and attempt to answer your question. Remember to give realistic ways in which you could test your hypothesis. Some issues to consider: Would you need the biggest telescopes on Earth, or could smaller ones be used; and/or would you need a space-based telescope or mission? What wavelengths of light would be best for your observations? Do you need images, spectra, and/or computer simulations? Would you need to observe the object several different times or just once?