Astronomy Laboratory
Students who are enrolled in the Astronomy class but want to have a more hands-on experience and actually want to see celestial night sky objects with their own eyes can sign up for the Astronomy Laboratory (AST 1002L). Selected course material covered in class is studied in depth during the lab sessions. Once a week the lab students meet, and weather permitting, observe the sky, process and analyze data, and document their findings in a lab report. They will learn how to set up and operate different types of telescopes. After taking this lab, each student will have long lasting memories and some will never forget the feeling of smallness they had when they were looking at nebulae or galaxies at distances which seem beyond comprehension.
Curriculum
Indoor Labs
- Angular Measurements
- Introduction to the Telescope
- Planetarium 1: Celestial Coordinate Systems
- Planetarium 2: The Seasons
- Astrophotography
- Atomic Spectroscopy
- Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
- Jupiter's Moons
- Radio Astronomy
Outdoor Labs
- Solar Observations
- Night Observations with the unaided eye and binoculars
- Tour through the Night Sky and the Constellations
- Advanced Night Observations
- Jupiter and its Moons
- Saturn
- The Moon
- Night Sky Observations using the NFC Observatory
Indoor Astronomy Lab, students perform atomic spectroscopy
NFC's Radio Telescope. The instrument is sensitive to 21-cm radiation from the Sun, planets and galaxies. The antenna and receiver are mounted on a sculpture created by Tallahassee artist and sculptor Mark Dickson