Preparation
All lab write-ups are available via Blackboard under the Labs tab. You should read the write-up for each week’s scheduled lab.
If the lab requires Skynet observations, those observations must be completed before the lab period and they will require at least 5-7 days lead time to accomplish. They cannot be saved until the last minute, or even the last day before the lab. Most of the Skynet data you’ll need over the semester will be requested as part of Lab 1, Introduction to Skynet.
Lab Policies
All labs may be done collaboratively.
Labs are due at the end of the lab session, with students working in pairs and handing in a single assignment.
Students arriving more than 20 minutes late to a lab session for a lab session may receive a deduction for that lab, or be required to work independently rather than collaboratively on the lab exercise.
Lab grades
- Each lab score is scored out of 20 points.
- We will do 13 labs total. I will drop the lowest lab grade, so 12 labs x 20 points = 240 lab points.
- 240 lab points = 25% of your total ASTR 181 grade.
Lab Schedule
Labs related to Unit I/Exam 1 are in green
Labs related to Unit II/Exam 2 are in blue
Labs related to Unit III/Exam 3 are in purple
Last lab on Large Scale Structure relates to Unit IV, covered between Exam 3 and the Final Exam
| Lab | Date | Skynet Observations? |
| 1. Introduction to Skynet | Aug. 31 | Will make observations during the lab period |
| 1. Introduction to Skynet (cont’d) | Sep. 7 | no |
| 2. Spectroscopy | Sep. 14 | no |
| 3. Stellar Spectral Classification | Sep. 21 | no |
| 4. HR Diagrams of Star Clusters | Sep. 28 | no |
| 5. Star Cluster Distances and the Dustiness of Space |
Oct. 5 | for bonus credit only |
| 6. Planetary Nebulae | Oct. 12 | for bonus credit only |
| 7. Dying Stars and the Birth of the Elements | Oct. 19 | for bonus credit only |
| 8. Standard Candles Distance ladder concepts also relate to Part III |
Oct. 26 | |
| 9. The Great Debate: Size of the Milky Way and Nature of the “Spiral Nebulae” | Nov. 2 | yes |
| 10. Galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey | Nov. 9 | no |
| 11. Rotation Curves and the Mass of the Milky Way Galaxy | Nov. 16 | yes |
| 12. Hubble’s Law | Nov. 30 | yes |
| 13. Large Scale Structure of the Universe | Dec. 7 | no |