PHYSICS 1091 ``Stars and Galaxies Lab''  Fall 2025

Instructor: Dr. Jason Pinkney
Office Hours in 111 Science Annex on Monday at 2 pm, Wednesday at 1-3 pm, and Thurs at 9-11 am.
Email j-pinkney@onu.edu or call 419-772-2740.
Observatory Phone: 419-772-4028
Instructor's Home page: https://jpastro.net

• We use the Weekly meeting to assign new indoor and outdoor labs, turn in labs, and go over labs. (Every other Wednesday, the Astronomy Club meets at 9 pm, so Wednesday will not always work as a backup.)
• We will try to observe once per week to work on outdoor labs, but clouds inevitably interfere.
  
• Indoor labs are done on desktop computers in SA108A, SA116 and SA117.
  
• ONU no longer supports student keycard access after hours, so it's best to find a gap in your daytime schedule to come in and work on these labs. So do your best to come by SA108A, SA116 or SA117 during approximately 8:30-4:30 pm. I'll need to let you into SA108A, but I can leave it open for you if you let me know when you plan to be there.

Lab:
This is the lab associated with introductory astronomy course Physics 1061, "Stars and Galaxies". There is only 1 section, since only astronomy minors (or physics majors with astronomy concentrations) really have to take this lab. You will have an informational meeting with me on the second week where you will be assigned your first lab.

Textbook and Notebook: No textbook is required. (Handouts will be provided for some labs while others will be computer-based.) However, you should have a notebook for the lab. Use it to record notes on our weekly meetings, and to write out a description of the computer-based labs.

Course Description:
Astronomy labs requiring math at the algebra level. These labs will reinforce the material presented in the Stars and Galaxies class (PHYS 1061), including: the celestial sphere, coordinate systems, proper motions of stars, the HR Diagram, Cepheid stars, Galaxy rotation and the Hubble Law. The course combines indoor, computer based labs with observing sessions at the ONU Observatory. The outdoor sessions intend to give you practice in finding your way in the night sky, and also give you experience in using telescopes and CCD detectors for imaging.

Here is a link to the ONU Observatory web site (including maps): https://jpastro.net/astro/ONUObservatory.html

I will not grade any "harder" than the above. 
Grading is based primarily on completion of the required indoor and outdoor labs. Most labs are worth 10 points, but the more lengthy "Planning an Observing Run" lab is 20 points. The indoor labs are worth the same as the outdoor labs. Outdoor labs tend to stretch over 2 weeks, while indoor labs are due 1 or 2 weeks after being assigned. Most labs will be graded with a "quality control" mindset in which I ask you to correct mistakes in order to get full points. Some may just be returned with deductions for missed steps or doing things wrong. I like to see thoroughly done labs.

Course Policies

Attendance  is essential for the night time lab sessions. It is nearly impossible to "make up" a data gathering session since good observing conditions are so rare. The Monday meeting is also important to intend, but you may be able to obtain the information by communicating with me (by email or in a special meeting). Let me know as soon as possible when you know you will have to miss a lab.

Calculators. I encourage you to have a calculator in this lab.

Notebooks and folders . You need a notebook for this lab. It will be used for taking notes and writing up indoor lab reports. (You could also write them up in Word and print them out on computer paper as well.) The notebook should allow you to remove sheets without frills. A simple folder would also be useful, but not mandatory, for storing your handouts and lab reports.

Schedule (tentative):
 

Week of	Indoor Lab	Outdoor lab   (if clear)
W1	Choose meeting times.  Provide syllabus.	Choose meeting time.
W2	"Plan an observing run."    (Use field guides,  planetarium programs, celestial globe, star locators to choose objects.)	Telescope intro.  Using star atlases; Messier & Caldwell catalogs.
W3	"Plan an observing run"	Creating & using finder charts
W4	VAL Unit 14/19*. Stellar Parallax	Image a high-PM star (B&W CCD)
W5	VAL Unit 15/20. Proper Motion of Stars	Image a high-PM star
W6	VAL Unit 17/22. Visual Binary Stars	"Observ Run" objects
W7	VAL Unit 21/26. HR Diagram	"Observ Run" objects
W8	VAL Unit 21/26. HR Diagram	Imaging star clusters (DSLR)
W9	VAL Unit 19/24. Cepheid Variable Stars	Imaging star clusters (DSLR)
W10	VAL Unit 19/24. Cepheid Variable Stars	Imaging nebulae (color CCD).
W11	Distribution of Mass in a Galaxy (VAL Unit 25/30)	CCD imaging of galaxies
W12	Distribution of Mass in a Galaxy (VAL Unit 25/30)	CCD imaging of galaxies.
W13	Galactic Speeds and Hubble's Law (VAL Unit 23/28)	Supernovae & SN remnants .
W14	Galactic Speeds and Hubble's Law (VAL Unit 23/28)	Certification: telescope practice
W15	Certification: sky quiz (done on computer)	Certification: telescope set up.
	(Finals week) Finish certification if not done.	Finish Certification if not done.

Telescope Certification and Sky Quiz:  You can be "certified" to operate our goto telescopes. This is optional for the student. It is recommended if they wish to operate telescopes in the future, and/or help out with public events at the ONU Observatory. First, you need to understand how coordinate systems work (RA and Declination, Alt and Azimuth, NCP, celestial equator, ecliptic). Then you need to know the basics of operating the goto telescopes (we have two Celestron CGPro mounts, and a new SkyWatcher strainwave 150i mount). You should be able to start up the telescope, track down objects that are too faint to see with the naked eye, and then safely shut down the telescope. The Sky Quiz will also require you to identify constellations (at least 7) and bright stars and planets (at least 5).

Doing indoor labs: the indoor labs are usually computer-based.  Therefore, you will have the option to work on your lab at any time.  You will be shown the 3-4 computers that have "Virtual Astronomy Labs" installed on the first meeting. I will also try to give you important astronomical background and context for each VAL lab. Your completed lab should include: 1) tables of data (with units and clear column headings), 2) Your name and date, 3) answers to all questions posed in the VAL lab, 4) answers to any other question posed by your instructor, 5) graphs of data, if important for answering the questions. I encourage you to use Excel or Libreoffice to create your data tables and graphs.
Coordinate with Dr. Pinkney to make sure you have access to SA108A (the Astro Lab) or SA117 when you want to work on the labs. (Student ID cards no longer work in our locks.)

Doing Outdoor labs: You will typically receive a worksheet during the Monday meeting or at the nighttime session. Do your best to neatly fill these out. (It's not easy in the cold and dark.) Use a clipboard and clip-on light stored near the observatory's entrance. You may need to take the sheet home in order to complete the questions and neaten things up. For some labs, I will probably need to provide you with hardcopies of images/data we take at the observatory. You can staple these to your final lab. I also hope to take you out when weather conditions are good.  In general, if the weather is good (<20% cloud cover, >20 deg F) we will go out.

First Lab (weeks 1-3):  We will start with "Planning an Observing Run", a lab designed to introduce you to star maps (including field guides and planetarium programs). You will use field guides or other star maps with labelled objects to find an interesting class of objects to observe with our telescopes (12-inch max).  Choose a theme, like "globular clusters". You will then write out a detailed schedule as if you will be observing your objects for a 4 hour period during the second month of the semester. In fact, we will allot at least 10 minutes to just one of your objects. The observation will most likely be a CCD or digital camera observation, but could also involve an eyepiece viewing. You must be sure that your object will be accessible at the scheduled time!

Common syllabus information.   Here is common course information which applies to all courses. This includes the covid Safety Plan, Grading Modes, Readmission, Repeat Policies, and more.  

Cool astronomy Links

Pinkney's Homepage

The ONU Physics Homepage