PHY 55
Observation Sessions
General:
Theory is all well and good, but an astronomy class without looking up is too theoretical, even for me. We will go out to the field as many times as can be arranged, to look at the sky and see what we have been talking about in class. We will have the use of Duke’s teaching observatory, constructed in 2002 expressly for our use. These sessions are an essential part of the class, and missing them will affect more than your grade.
Organization:
We hope to conduct three observation sessions, which would bring each of you out three times. We will schedule each of these three times, once each on a Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday. We anticipate some rescheduling will be required because observations are impossible when it is cloudy or hazy, not to mention raining or snowing…Note that if you are a member of, say, the Wednesday night group, you will need to be able and prepared to observe on any Wednesday on which an observing session is called; in practice, this will happen three Wednesday nights over the course of the semester.
At the observatory, you will work with 2-3 others as a team, operating one telescope. If you have 2-3 people in the class with whom you'd like to work, get together with them, pick an evening you can all be available for observing. Send your names and your preferred day of the week to Ariana by Wednesday, January 16. If you make a request by that day, we will make every effort to assign you to the night you requested; otherwise you will be assigned to a group randomly.
Before each scheduled observation we will prepare and post a lab sheet for that session. This will list objects you are likely to observe, and include a blank sky chart. To prepare for the session, you should go through the target list. For each object, you should be aware of where in the sky we should be looking for it, what it is, as well as what we can expect it to look like. Most of this is available from your Starry Night software. In the field, we will ask you to point out objects and discuss them. You will also be filling out the sky chart indicating celestial landmarks as well as the objects you observed. We will discuss a sample lab sheet in class before our first observations.
I will try to use forecasts to determine 24 hours in advance whether a given observation will happen or not. In some cases it will be impossible to be certain that far ahead. Last-minute notice of cancellations will be posted on an onornot page. Please check this before heading out if there are any doubts.
Logistics:
Our observatory is located in the Duke Forest about 8 minutes by car from campus. We will meet around dusk (time will change from around 6pm in early January to 9pm later in the spring) in the Physics lobby. If you own a car and can bring it please do; in this case let Ariana know you are driving and how many spaces you have for passengers. We are usually back no more than 3 hours after we begin.
We will be observing from an often unmowed meadow in the woods. It is dark and the grass can get waist-high and often wet. Please dress in clothes you do not mind soiling and in shoes you will be comfortable in outdoors. You may bring a flashlight.
Other things to bring are paper and a pencil for writing down observations, your lab sheets, notes if you have prepared them, and binoculars (always useful) if you have them.
Pre-Observation, January:
Once your lab team of 3-4 has formed, you will need to schedule a time to meet with Ariana as a team, in the Physics building. At this meeting you will be asked to assemble a telescope (they are stored at the site in a disassembled state), demonstrating that you have read and understood the Assembly Instructions (please print these and bring a copy with you so you can annotate it with what you learn from Ariana). You will also learn some of the basic directions for operating the telescopes. Doing this in the warmth and light indoors will make us far more likely to succeed in doing it in the cold and dark later. All groups should complete this pre-observation by January 25 at the latest.
First Session, February:
We will use our first session to work on our familiarity with the sky, learn to use the telescopes, and see some of the neat sights visible at this wonderful time of year. Before coming out, please print and read the lab sheet which contains instructions, a tentative target list, and a sky chart you will need to fill out. Observing, as you will learn, is highly dependent on favorable weather, and forecasting this is tricky. I will try to decide whether or not a particular observation is on 24 hours ahead of time and email the people involved. But this may not always be possible. Last-minute cancellation information will be available at the observatory's onornot page. Please consult this page when appropriate to find out if an observation is on or not. Only when absolutely necessary, you can text me at (919)-414-7669 to ask for an update. Please use this judiciously.
Second Session, March:
We will use our second session to apply our experience with the sky and the telescopes to observe some more challenging objects, many of which will make an appearance in class soon. Before coming out, please print and read the lab sheet which contains instructions, a tentative target list, and a sky chart you will need to fill out.
Third Session, April:
For this last session, I am going to ask that you choose your target list. Think of things you want to see and have not, or of things you have observed and could stand to see again (or want to spend some time looking at more closely, playing with magnifications, etc.). I will provide a sky chart for you to plot your objects on, and some guidelines on writing your report. If you have any questions you can ask Ariana or me for help. Your grade for this one, as well as how much fun you have, depends on how much initiative you show in preparing your evening. For now, here are some links to sites you can use to help you plan your observation. Note that brightness is given in terms of (apparent) magnitude. We can see objects down to magnitude 11 on a good day, 9 on a bad day. Here is your lab sheet for this session.
The Astronomy Connection - Observing Targets
Deep Sky Astronomy - Galaxies, Nebulas, Star Clusters - Photos, Observing Lists, more. Don’t get upset about the URL here, use the great links they give
StarDate Online - Your Guide to the Universe
NGC/IC Observing List Generator Give this a constellation, object type, and limiting magnitude to produce a list. Check out, say, galaxies in Virgo!
Welcome to Heavens-Above! This fun site gives you information on when satellites are visible, etc. You need to register, but it’s free and you will have fun impressing your friends when you tell them to look up in a particular direction at a particular time and – presto – find the space station or the Hubble telescope floating by!
There are a billion more good sites out there, have fun!