12.409
Full Description 12.409
Full Description
12.409 Observing Stars and Planets
Prof. James Elliot,
Dr. Andrew Rivkin,
Dr. Joanna Thomas-Osip
Prereq.: -
U(1)
0-6-0 [P/D/F]
Limited enrollment.
Initial Organizational Meeting:
Tuesday Feb 5, 2002 at 7:00 pm, Room 37-562
Bring your weekly schedule to this initial meeting!
In this seminar we explore the background and techniques of visual observation and imaging of the Moon, planets, and brighter deep-space objects using 8-inch telescopes. (Some sample images appear in our "photo album".) Telescope work begins with visual observing, then we advance to CCD (charge-coupled device) cameras. Each class observing session meets one evening a week. Whenever weather conditions permit us to observe outdoors we do so! In cloudy weather we'll try some astronomical computing and image processing indoors instead. Either way, virtually all the work for the seminar is done during the evening sessions, so students must attend section every week in order to pass. Past experience has been that if you're really enthusiastic about hands-on out-under-the-sky astronomy, enough to be willing to deal with dressing warmly, tinkering with equipment, and committing one evening a week, 12.409 is great fun! One student wrote, "Unlike most seminars, you will earn your units and, unlike most other MIT courses, you will look forward to doing it!"
But we'll be direct: 12.409 is not for everyone, and in past years many whose interest was merely casual found themselves unwilling to devote one entire evening every week to the class. If your interest is only casual then consider whether a more typical astronomy survey subject (such as 12.400) might be a better choice, since it'll have more outside preparation time that you can rearrange at your discretion and less in-class time that you can't.
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Last modified 2002 Jan 30 |
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