Astronomy 162: Introduction to Astronomy

Day and evening telescope observation sessions are available from the roof of the Physics building (conducted by Mr. Paul Lewis). These sessions last about 20 - 30 minutes. You must sign up in advance on lists posted on the small corkboard outside room P415. Read Mr. Lewis's instructions carefully when you sign up. Failure to follow his guidelines can result in loss of the extra credit privilege. In short, if you sign up, show up or else call Mr. Lewis's office (974-7815) and give a valid excuse to him or his answering machine (e.g., illness-be prepared to prove it with a clinic/Doctor's note)

Be on time for these sessions! Mr. Lewis takes no prisoners on this point - he will shut the roof door before he starts each session. Arrive a little early or you may be left out of the session. You have been warned.

The only exception to attending a session you sign up for is for daytime observations -- if you cannot see the Sun then you do not need to come or call. It is also important that you try to do your observing as early as possible in the semester since bad weather usually causes many cancellations of extra credit sessions. This causes many students to miss their chance at extra credit. Don't let it be you!

At evening sessions where weather prevents observation, Mr. Lewis will talk to you and show an astronomy videotape from our astronomy library. These sessions will be held in the Astronomy Reading Room located on the mezzanine floor of the Physics building (right around the corner from my office). You should always try again to observe even if you have been rained out. The video write-up (2 Pages) will be counted as video extra credit if you hand in the two (day & night) roof trips. So you can only come out ahead!

One solar and one evening session will be considered for extra credit - a total of approximately half a letter grade added your final grade. A stamped form from Mr. Lewis plus a one page typed essay describing your observing trip should be handed in to me or your laboratory TA for you to get the full credit.
 

You can also watch course relevant videotapes (for 161: planets, moons, etc. and for 162: the Sun, stars, galaxies, etc.). See the following list of videos: The appropriate videos for this course are under the subject headings Light, Modern (Quantum) Physics, The Sun, Stellar Evolution/Nuclear Energy, Cosmology/Big Bang, and Relativity. The other topics are more appropriate for Astronomy 161, and you will not receive credit for them in Astronomy 162.

You can watch videos any time convenient for you in the Astronomy Reading Room on the mezzanine. The room is open M-F from about 7:30 a.m. until closing (usually between 10 p.m.-12 midnite.)

The videos are on the shelves underneath the TV/VCR in the Reading Room. The ones most relevant to what we are covering each week can usually be found next to the TV. Please rewind and put the tapes back where you took them from so the next student can find them. They are arranged together by subject matter in groups (Earth, Mars, Galaxies, Telescopes, Biographies, etc.).

There is a remote control for the TV/VCR that you can use to pause or rewind when viewing the tapes. That allows you to stop things as you takes notes for your report. It is usually on a bookshelf near the TV but you may have to hunt around the room if someone didn't put it back there.

These videotapes are not to be removed from the Reading Room. There are hundreds of other astronomy students taking these courses and if you take a video for your personal convenience to view at home then you have stolen opportunities for them. Because some people have done this in the past there are some videos missing. You all lose when this happens since we do not have the money to keep replacing videos. Please do the right thing or we may not be able to continue to allow free access to the tapes. In fact because of this there are some videos which must be checked out from Dr. Daunt's office (on the same floor) with the exchange of your UT ID card.

A two page typed report, together with your original notes on the film, should be submitted anytime during the semester, with the restrictions that at most three reports can be submitted in one week, and at most 15 reports can be submitted during the semester. Try to write the reports the week you watch them so the material is fresh in your mind. The ultimate deadline is the last day of class. No reports will be accepted during finals period.

The report must be typed, and each must be written by the person submitting it. Reports which appear to be copied or group efforts will not be accepted. You must attach your original notes on the film to the report. Aside from that, there is no required format, but the report must be thoughtful and well done for full credit. You can submit as many reports as you like, but you must choose videos relevant to this course: planets, moons, etc (not stars and galaxies). With full credit, each video report is worth 5 points added to the exam total at the end of the course.

Watching the videos can help you learn the material for the tests. My suggestion has always been that you should budget time each week to watch at least one video relevant to the topic we are covering in class that week. They only run from 30 minutes to an hour each. They will help you see how the book/Web material and class go together. This will help you to understand the material and improve your test scores. And you get extra points added to your final grade at the same time!

Each video will be worth 5 points of exam credit. A maximum of 45 points can be earned through video credit during the semester.