Information About Reports for 12.410J/8.287J

Simply stated, your report should describe to a knowledgable person

1. your goal
2. what you did
3. what you learned (conclusions)

Writing Tips

• Say what you mean - clear and succinct is good.
• Avoid nonstandard terms such as ``near-chip photometry'', or other slang such as ``images shot''. ``0bias'' is an abbreviation that's ok for your observing log, but in your report use ``zero-bias'' or just ``bias'' instead.
• Note that ``datum'' is the singular form of ``data'', which is plural.
• The plural of ``ephemeris'' is ``ephemerides''.
• Look up the genitive form of constellations if you need them; for example, ``DY Pegasi'' or ``113 Piscium''.
• When writing a numerical value less than one include the leading zero; for example, write "0.02" rather than ".02".
• Mathematical variables should be italicized, as should foreign words or abbreviations such as "i.e.", "e.g.", and "et al."
• By convention the names of the broadband photometric standard filters are italicized as well (e.g., ``B filter'' and ``V-R color index'').

Following is an outline of what we're expecting in your project report. The length of the report has no set requirement; if concise the written part (excluding the space for tables and figures) might be as short as 10 pages.

Typical Section Outline

Abstract

Give a concise summary of your results with the most significant results and conclusions.

Introduction

What was your motivation for the work? What question did you want to answer? What approach did you use to answer it? This is where it's often helpful to look up some related previous work if you've not already done so.

Observations

Describe the essentials of what was done so it can be reproduced: Which telescope, instrument, optics, procedures, etc. were used? If you're using data from more than one night you might have a summary table of ``observational circumstances'' including observing attempts and data recorded (UT date, UT time span, RA and Dec of target if moving object, filter and optics used, etc.). A more extensive log of observational data would appear as an Appendix. State the reasons for doing things the way you did them.

Data Reduction

Explain the essentials of your procedures. Present the main equations used (be sure to define the variables). Give some intermediate results (such as a sample extinction curve). If you had to devise any special strategies to obtain useful results in spite of particular problems with your ``non-textbook case'' data this is the place to document them.

Results (or Discussion)

Present graphs or tables of magnitudes, lightcurves, whatever's appropriate for your project. Discuss what data you rejected, if any. Discuss the errors in your results (are they about what you expect?). Could they be reduced if you repeated your project? Compare and contrast your results with related previous work.

Conclusions

What do you know now that you didn't know before? Future work?

References

You can save time and space by referring readers interested in more detailed explanation to already-available materials; also, you should give a reference to any data used in your analysis that you didn't record yourself.

You'll probably include tables, figures, figure captions, and equations too:

tables

Each table should have a purpose - for each ask yourself ``what am I trying to present?'' Do you have enough columns? Too many columns? Be sure to label each column with a short name and the units of the tabulated quantities, and in the report text where the table is first referenced identify the contents of each column more fully.

figures

As for tables, be clear on what you're trying to show the reader with the figure. Does it succeed? Is enough data being plotted? Too much? Be sure to include a legend if you use more than one type of point symbol, and label each axis (include units).

figure captions

Don't blunt the impact of a good figure by neglecting its caption. Each should contain (i) title of figure, (ii) explain what's plotted, (iii) highlight any notable features, and (iv) give your conclusion of what the figure illustrates or proves.

equations

Give only what you consider to be the essential equations. Numbers are cheap, and each equation deserves one for easy reference.

Grading Criteria

1. Complete description of the work, enough for a knowledgable person to understand and reproduce it.
2. Properly described equations, figures, tables.
3. Demonstration of an understanding of the subject material.
4. Turned in on time
5. Innovation, initiative, understanding of the astronomical relevance, interpretation of results.

(A = first rate, B = good, C = fair, D = substandard, F = not acceptable)

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Last modified 2001 Jun 6