Computer Science – Learning
Scientific paper
May 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009aas...21440113s&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #214, #401.13; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.661
Computer Science
Learning
Scientific paper
To broaden the research skills of undergraduate students at the University of California, Irvine, we created a new required laboratory class called Observational Astrophysics, designed to be taken by junior and senior physics majors specializing in astrophysics. Students spend the first two weeks learning the basics of observational astronomy (coordinate systems, telescopes, CCDs, etc.) and completing homework assignments. Students spend the next eight weeks performing three lab experiments that involve: 1) CCD imaging of Jupiter with an 8-inch Meade telescope, doing astrometry of the their four brightest moons, and fitting the moons' distance versus time to derive the moons' orbital period, semimajor axis and inclination and Jupiter's mass, 2) CCD imaging of star cluster with a 24-inch telescope, doing profile-fitting photometry with DAOPHOT and doing main-sequence fitting of their observed color-magnitude diagram with stellar evolutionary models to derive the cluster's distance, reddening, and age, and 3) reducing longslit spectra of an x-ray binary previously taken with the Keck 10-meter telescope, deriving the radial velocity curve from cross-correlating the spectra with stellar templates, and deriving a lower limit on the mass of the black hole. In this paper, we discuss the course, report on the student reactions, and summarize some of the important things we learned in creating the class. Students enjoy the class. Although they find it difficult, they highly value the experience because they realize they are learning crucial research skills that will greatly help them when go on to do summer research, attend graduate school or work to industry. We are open to sharing our lab manual and data with others who wish to augment their university's curriculum.
Barth Aaron J.
Smecker-Hane Tammy Ann
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