Observational Astronomy

4.0 credits

ASTR 244W/444 is the astronomy-only version of our Advanced Laboratory (PHYS 243W), in which challenging observing projects and analyses are carried out using the 24-inch Cassegrain telescope, and its research-grade instrument suite, at the Mees Observatory. The semester is front-loaded with ten introductory lessons on instruments, observations, and image processing. Afterwards, most of the effort will go into planning and executing observations, analyzing the data, and writing papers about the results.