Please note: All students must register for a lab section, separately from the lecture section.

Lab objective: PSci 21 laboratory is designed to give students the opportunity to learn and recognize the constellations, deep-sky objects, planets, lunar phases, and stars with the unaided eye and with telescopes. We will also study basic astronomical concepts in labs held in classrooms. We want you to succeed in this course and to have fun learning about the night sky. Some of the topics may be difficult to understand so please feel free to ask questions both in and outside of lab.

In addition to the activities in the lab manual, students will become familiar with the constellations, asterisms, and bright stars. We will also learn how to use a telescope to view the Moon, the planets, star clusters, gaseous nebulae, and galaxies. I expect that, by the end of the course, you will be able to locate even faint, hard-to-find objects, using the telescopes while working from your maps.

Attendance: Attendance to all labs is mandatory. You must attend the labs in the lab section in which you are registered: exceptions will be made only by written consent in advance of the instructor of the lab section in which you are registered, and even then, only for compelling reasons (e.g. job interview or illness documented by a physician's note). If you must miss a lab for a compelling reason, the part of the lab grade that lab would have counted will be voided, and the rest of the lab grade will be counted as 100%. If you miss a lab without a compelling reason, or without written consent in advance from the instructor, or if you attend a lab other than the one in which you were registered without prior written consent of the instructor of the lab section in which you are registered, you will receive a zero for the lab. Any student with three or more unexcused absences from lab will receive an F in the entire PSci 21 course, which includes the lecture section.

Field trips: Three times this semester, PSci 21 is scheduled be observing the sky at a dark site a half-hour drive from campus called the CSUFresno San Joaquin Experimental Range. There are directions to the Range on the last page of the blue PSci 21 Lab Manual, and in the Class Notes for Dr. Ringwald's lecture section. It is therefore essential for all students to plan their schedules accordingly, at the beginning of the semester. Evenings this semester to set aside for Range labs are: February 27-28 (or March 5-6, in case of bad weather), March 12-13 (or March 19-20, in case of bad weather), and April 9-10 (or April 16-17, in case of bad weather).

The Range labs on February 27 and 28 (or March 5 or 6, in case of bad weather) will start at 5:30-6 p.m., regardless of whether you have a 5:30 or 7:30 p.m. lab. All other Range labs will start at 7:30-8 p.m., regardless of whether you have a 5:30 or 7:30 p.m. lab. Plan to stay for two hours. All students are responsible for their own transportation to these field trips: the university cannot guarantee it can provide transportation to Range Labs.

These dates are subject to change due to poor weather. After noon on the days of the labs, before going out to the Range, check the weather report on Dr. Ringwald's voicemail (559-278-8426) or the PSci 21 web page (http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~fringwal/psci21.html) in case there have been any such last-minute changes.

We do not cancel labs for bad weather. If the weather is bad, we will meet in the lab classrooms (McLane 258 or 264) at the regular lab times (5:30 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.).

If you are ill or an emergency arises beyond your control and you cannot attend lab please contact your lab instructor. Valid absences can be excused, and that part of the grade voided, so that the remainder of the grade will be counted as 100%. Still, even for valid, excused absences, we can't give make-up or advance labs, because most labs use equipment that will only be avaliable for the week they're scheduled to be used.

All PSci 21 lab instructors discourage students from attending any lab sessions other than the one in which they are registered. We tried this in the past, and we found it just isn't possible to keep accurate records for classes as large as PSci 21.

The Department of Physics cooperates with the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) to make reasonable accommodations for qualified students with physical, perceptual, or learning disabilities (cf. Americans with Disabilities Act and Section of 504, Rehabilitation Act). Students with disabilities should present their written accommodation request to Dr. Ringwald within the first two lab sessions.

Lab Safety: These astronomy lab sessions necessarily take place after dark, since the object of study is the night sky. If safety becomes a concern, the Campus Police provide an escort program. Radio-equipped, uniformed, trained escort officers will accompany persons to their destinations on campus during hours of darkness. Call 278-2132, or pick up an emergency phone to request an escort officer. Be sure to check their badges, before going anywhere with them. The Campus Police also provide car battery assistance and other services, and can be reached in an emergency by calling 911.

Assignments: At the end of each night's lab, turn in your completed work for credit. Each lab is worth 20 points, and you will receive full credit only if all work is shown, correct, and complete. If the lab requires calculations, show your work! Also include the correct units: doing otherwise, or not showing your work, will be grounds for points being taken off.

Sometimes, it may take more than one week to complete the lab assignment. You will still be held responsible for showing the lab instructor your work before you leave each night. If you finish the assignment by the following week, you will be responsible for turning it in for complete credit.

You are encouraged to work together in groups. However, this must be genuine collaboration: not one person doing all the work, and the others copying. Therefore, do your write-ups separately: identical write-ups are a form of plagiarism. Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated and will be dealt with according to the terms stated in the University Catalog.

Lab work will only be accepted as paper copies, turned in during lab. Lab work will not be accepted as e-mail, or as paper copies turned in at any time other than during lab. If there is any concern that an absence from class due to a university-sponsored event such as sports, theatre, or ROTC, or a family emergency, or a risk event such as a broken printer, might arise that would hinder any student from handing in assignments during the lab in which the work is due, the instructor recommends completing the assignment early, and turning it in during the lab in which it is due, or directly to the instructor during office hours, at a time earlier than the due date, and even then only after written agreement in advance by both the student and the instructor.

Quizzes: There will be a quiz at the beginning of most of the labs (see the schedule, below). The quizzes will cover the previous classroom lab (not at the Range) and also the material that we are covering the week of the quiz. Each quiz will be worth 10 points.

The Lab Final Quiz: On the next-to-last lab, there will be a lab final quiz, worth 40 points. This will be comprehensive, covering all the material covered by all the previous quizzes and labs.

Grade: The points earned in the lab will be used by the lecture instructors, Dr. Ringwald or Dr. White, to calculate your final grade in the course. The laboratory counts for 10% of the course grade. Letter grades are not assigned in the laboratory.

Required Course Equipment: (1) A clear plastic ruler; (2) A scientific calculator (that has scientific notation, and can calculate logarithms); (3) A flashlight (preferably with a red filter for night vision); (4) The blue PSci 21 lab manual, available in the campus bookstore. (5) The Stars, by H. A. Rey. Always bring all of these to lab.

Be sure to dress warmly, even if the weather does not look cold that night. You may also bring chairs and blankets, but be sure to clean up after yourselves, before you leave.

TENTATIVE Lab Schedule (updated 2011 December 19). Always read the lab description (in the blue Lab Manual) before lab and be ready for a quiz.

Week	Dates	Moon	Lab
1	January 16-17	Last Quarter (Jan 16)	No labs
2	January 23-24	New (Jan 22)	No labs
3	January 30-31	First Quarter (Jan 30)	Meet in the lab classrooms (McLane 258 and 264), and do: Lab 1, Star Names, Maps, and Constellations.
4	February 6-7	Full (Feb 7)	Meet in the lab classrooms (McLane 258 and 264), and do: Lab 2, The Mystery Constellations.
5	February 13-14	Last Quarter (Feb 14)	Meet in the lab classrooms (McLane 258 and 264), and do: Lab 3, The Basics of Optics and Telescopes.
6	February 20-21	New (Feb 21)	No labs (Presidents' Day)
7	February 27-28	First Quarter (Feb 29)	Meet at the Range at 5:30-6 p.m., and do: Lab 4, Introduction to Telescopes. In case of poor weather: Meet in the lab classrooms (McLane 258 and 264), and do: Lab 5, Spectra, Fingerprinting the Elements.
8	March 5-6	Full (March 8)	Meet in the lab classrooms (McLane 258 and 264), and do: Lab 5, Spectra, Fingerprinting the Elements (or Range, if cancelled last week: meet at the Range at 5:30-6 p.m. do: Lab 4, Introduction to Telescopes).
9	March 12-13	Last Quarter (March 14)	Meet at the Range at 7:30-8 p.m., and do: Lab 6, Dark-Sky Observing Lab B. In case of poor weather: Meet in the lab classrooms (McLane 258 and 264), and do: Lab 7, The Revolution of the Moons of Jupiter.
10	March 19-20	New (March 22)	Meet in the lab classrooms (McLane 258 and 264), and do: Lab 7, The Revolution of the Moons of Jupiter (or Range, if cancelled last week: meet at the Range at 7:30-8 p.m. do: Lab 6, Dark-Sky Observing Lab B).
11	March 26-27	First Quarter (March 30)	Meet in the lab classrooms (McLane 258 and 264), and do: Lab 8, The Hunt for Micrometeorites.
-	April 2-3	Full (April 6)	No labs (Spring Break)
12	April 9-10	Last Quarter (April 13)	Meet at the Range at 7:30-8 p.m., and do: Lab 9, Dark-Sky Observing Lab B. In case of poor weather: Meet in the lab classrooms (McLane 258 and 264), and do: Lab 10, The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram.
13	April 16-17	New (April 21)	Meet in the lab classrooms (McLane 258 and 264), and do: Lab 10, The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram (or Range, if cancelled last week: meet at the Range at 7:30-8 p.m., and do: Lab 9, Dark-Sky Observing Lab B). [NOTE TO LAB INSTRUCTORS: Please grade all labs, record the grades, and return the labs to all students during the April 23 and 24 labs.]
14	April 23-24	New (April 21)	Meet in the lab classrooms (McLane 258 and 264), and do: Lab 11, Life Beyond Earth. After briefing in the lab classrooms, we will see a show at the Downing Planetarium. [NOTE TO LAB INSTRUCTORS: Please brief your classes first, then bring them to the planetarium at 6:15 p.m. (for the 5:30 labs) and at 8:15 p.m. (for the 7:30 labs).]
15	April 30 - May 1	First Quarter (April 29)	Meet in the lab classrooms (McLane 258 and 264), and do: The Lab Final Quiz, covering all labs except for Lab 12. Also: Lab 12, Classification of Galaxies will be assigned, to be due next week.
16	May 7-8	Full (May 5)	Meet in the lab classrooms (McLane 258 and 264): Lab 12, Classification of Galaxies is due. Also: return and discuss the Lab Final Quiz, to prepare for the Final Exam.

Go to the PSci 21 page