Observational Optical Research Lab

5 credits

Laboratory course to provide students with hands-on experience working with astronomical data taken at optical wavelengths of light. Topics include detection of optical light, photon counting statistics, detectors and noise, probability distributions, spectroscopy, optical telescopes, photometry, astrometry, display of scientific data, and scientific writing. A significant portion of the class includes computer programming for data analysis. Prerequisites: PHYS 2A/2AR-B-C-D or 4A-B-C-D-E and BILD 62 or COGS 18 or CSE 11 or CSE 6R or CSE 8A or CSE 8B or DSC 10 or PHYS 41.