Lab Final

This is page is intended for section 9. Other sections should prepare as their instructors require.

Some adjustments/corrections may be needed before the lab final.

Sections

  1. Student Preparation
  2. Schedule for Students
  3. Special Instructions For Instructors

  1. Student Preparation

    1. Getting prepped.

      1. Nov14 is the practice and makeup night. If you need practice after reviewing the discussion below, you should certainly come. If you are just doing practice, it shouldn't take too long. We will set some telescopes up on the roof---weather permitting.
      2. Things you will have to do are specified in the subsections below.
      3. Note that all the things you will have to do have to be done quickly within about 20 minutes or so. So you do not have time to fumble about figuring things out while you go.
      4. I would go through the steps of the preparation over and over again until they are essentially memorized.
      5. You are on your own. No partners and the instructor will not be giving help or hints---or if they do have to give a hint to get you started, you will be assessed a penalty. No electronic devices, no books, and no notes. You can make sketches during the lab final itself and/or take a planisphere for aids.
      6. The inside part is really easy and should be quick and is worth 70 % of the total. You need 60 % to pass. So make sure you can do the inside part without hitches.
      7. On the practice night, you might trying working in pairs with one student testing the other.

    2. Working with a planisphere (a descendant of the ancient astrolabe): 20 %.

      1. You will set the planisphere to the test day and time.
      2. To do this, you rotate the dial until the date (on the dial or tympan) aligns with the time (on the base or mater): e.g., rotate Nov28 to 8 pm.
      3. The visible star chart in the window is approximately the sky above the horizon on that date and time. The window is set for 50 degrees north latitude (see planisphere manual p. 4, note). In Las Vegas, Nevada (36 degrees north latitude), we can see a little farther to the south and a little less far to the north than what the window shows, but the difference is not significant for us.
      4. Most of the constellations on the visible star chart will be in visible in the actual sky.
      5. You will be asked to locate some of the following on the planisphere:

        This is pretty easy since the objects are labeled on the planisphere, except for the Milky Way. Note that some objects may be somewhat below the horizon for your time and date. You should be able to locate them anyway.

      6. You should be able so show how the planisphere window aligns with the actual sky.
      7. You can make a sky sketch or take the planisphere with you for the next parts of the lab final. For the sketch, one could just locate the objects of interest specified above in their constellations.

    3. Working with TheSky software: 25 %.

      1. Launch the TheSky if necessary.
      2. Set File/Open/Normal.sky if necessary.
      3. Check the location is Las Vegas, Nevada with Data/Location. Change location if necessary.
      4. Check the time is the current date and time with Data/Time. Change date and time if necessary.
      5. Set to Mercator projection with View/Projections/Mercator if necessary.
      6. Set the TheSky to show the Moon and planets with View (or background)/Display Explorer/Solar system +/Moon X, planet X.
      7. Find Moon, Jupiter, and Uranus on the screen. Make sure you can locate them on your sketch or on the planisphere by constellation they are in.
      8. Locate the Pleiades in Taurus. TheSky doesn't give the name Pleiades, but gives the brightest stars in the Pleiades: Alcyone, Atlas, Electra, etc.
      9. Set the TheSky to show the Andromeda galaxy (M31, NGC 224) with View (or background)/Display Explorer/Non-stellar +/Galactic X (which causes Andromeda galaxy to appear as a smudge on the screen) and View (or background)/Display Explorer/Non-stellar +/Label +/Messier X (which puts the label M31 on the Andromeda galaxy) or View (or background)/Display Explorer/Non-stellar +/Label +/Common names X (which puts the label Andromeda galaxy on the Andromeda galaxy).
      10. Shutdown TheSky without saving changes.

    4. Working with telescope inside: 25 %. This will be done in the storage room where there will be one telescope is set up.

      1. You will have to name and locate the parts of the telescope. You have to rattle them off without prompting. You should prepare by reading the relevant part of your report of the Telescopes lab. You will be asked for explain the function of two of the parts.
      2. Telescope parts and other useful terms should be reviewed: air mass, angular resolution, clock drive, crosshairs eyepiece, field of view, finderscope, focal length, focusing knob, fork arm, LCD keypad, light-gathering power, objective, on-off switch, optical telescope, optics, pimary mirror, Rayleigh criterion, SAO stars, Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, secondary mirror, seeing, slew, star diagonal, star pointer, telescope tube.

    5. Working with telescope outside: 30 %. If weather doens't permit this part outside, a modified version will be done inside.

      1. You should prepare by reading over your report of the Telescopes lab, Appendix D of the lab manual, and by actual practice.
      2. For slewing uses the arrow keys. They only work for slewing. The key rate determines the slewing. Go rate/9 for fast slewing appropriate for moving many degrees across the sky. Go rate/5 for slow slewing appropriate for centering an object.
      3. In working with the LCD menu, remember that UNDO button moves you up the categories. Repeated UNDOs will take you to the top category NexStarSE Ready which is usually a good place to start any new set of instructions.
      4. You will asked to find and center two or three objects. The telescope is alignment NOT perfect. So you may have to do the precise finding and centering using the star pointer and the finderscope. Precise centering usually requires switching to the to a slow slew rate. When you want to slew by many degrees you have to switch back to a fast slew rate.
      5. To find solar system object: 5-planet/scroll/object/enter. Note scroll up is 6-Up and down is 9-down in any list of entries. Hold down 6-Up or 9-down for fast scrolling.
      6. You will be asked to find Moon, Jupiter, or Uranus. The Moon might be rather dazzling since we won't have the Moon filter on. Uranus is NOT naked-eye (not in the city anyway) unlike the other objects and is rather challenging to center on. But you should see a disk I think.
      7. You will be asked to change eyepieces from focal length 40 mm to lower focal length. Be prepared to say what effect this has: increases magnification, decreases field of view.
      8. Return to the 40 mm eyepiece.
      9. Turn off the clock drive with the object centered. To turn off the clock drive go 3-menu/tracking/enter/mode/off. The object will drift to the west and this allows you do identify North, South, East, West (NSEW).
      10. Turn on the clock drive: 3-menu/tracking/enter/mode/Alt-Az.
      11. To find the Pleiades: 8-list/scroll/Named Objects/enter/scroll/object Pleiades/enter.
      12. To find the Andromeda galaxy (M31, NGC 224): 8-list/scroll/Named Objects/scroll/Andromeda Galaxy/enter. The Andromeda galaxy is probably NOT a naked-eye object in the city. It may be rather challenging to center on it. The whole disk is about 3 degrees, but only the bright central region is likely visible. The spiral arms will probably not be detectable at all.
      13. To find a named star: 8-list/scroll/Named Stars/enter/scroll/object/enter.

  2. Schedule For Students

    3. Date: 2012 Nov28, Wednesday.

    Students should arrive slightly before their scheduled time and be ready to begin right away.

    Do NOT be late. The plan is that one instructor will give the inside tests moving around the lab room quickly doing the planisphere and TheSky parts and then take one student at a time to the storage room for the inside telescope part.

    The student is then sent to the roof where the other instructor will have them to the outside telescope part.

    Several students can be on the roof at once with the instructor moving between them checking off how they are doing.

    1. 7:30

    2. 8:00

    3. 8:30

    4. 9:00

  3. Special Instructions For Instructors

    1. Check as needed:
      1. Usual Startup
      2. Usual Shutdown

    2. As usual for outdoor labs, check the weather online at NWS 7-day forecast, Las Vegas, NV in advance and by personal visual inspection at/during the lab period.

      In case the weather is not good for observing, you need to have an alternate indoor test ready. Yours truly suggests ????---well we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

    3. You will need to set up the C8 telescopes on the roof before the lab period and review their usage well in advance if needed. See Telescope Operating Procedure for procedures and tips.