NOTE: Of necessity, astronomy labs take place in the dark. There
is a slight but non-zero risk associated with these activities, including but
not limited to tripping and falling, injuring yourself lifting the equipment, or
losing valuable items in the dark. Students enrolled in this course must
be aware of these risks and accept personal responsibility for any injury or
loss incurred during routine lab work.
A note about the weather: Generally, our telescopic
observations will be made under clear skies soon after sunset. With no
cloud cover, the temperature will drop quickly. (Remember, water vapor is
a greenhouse gas. Clear nights have less water vapor in the air to hold in
the heat.) A sunny afternoon where you only need a light jacket can
quickly turn into a cold night requiring a heavy coat. Also, most of us
are not used to standing out in the cold for long periods. You may be
quite comfortable on a 35° F evening with a sweater if all you're doing is
running to the store and you're only actually outside for a couple of minutes.
Stay outside in that same sweater for a couple of hours, and you'll be
miserable. Putting all this together means that it will feel much
colder than you expect while you are out using the telescopes. Here's a
rough rule of thumb: Take the expected low temperature for the night, reduce it
by 10° F, and dress for that kind of weather. For example, if the low is
supposed to be 38° F, dress like it is going to be 28° F. A good heavy
coat with a hood (bills of caps bump into the telescopes), gloves, etc. are
necessary lab equipment. While I will be sympathetic to cold fingers and
toes, I will not excuse anyone from lab work because they are not dressed
warmly enough.
Below is the schedule of labs for the semester.
This schedule will be
adjusted as the semester progresses and we are affected (or not) by weather.
