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Spring 2000 Honors Project for Astronomy 100, 103, and 104

Brief summary: There are two options for the 100, 103 and 104 honors project. Option 1 is to attend 3 out of 4 supplemental discussion meetings and write a 4-5 page paper (4 pages for 103 and 104, 5 pages for 100). Option 2 is to write a 8-10 page paper on an independent project. For either option, the due date is May 12.

Meeting Times for option 1:

FIRST MEETING: Feb 16 5:30 pm in Rm 6515 Sterling

Three more meetings, dates to be determined shortly. One of the dates will depend on the weather

Topic for option 1:

What's our goal? In this project you will learn about 'backyard astronomy' and the differences between it and the instruments used for science. Specifically

What kind of telescopes are available for the typical consumer.
What these telescopes are designed specifically for.
How to make an informed decision about what to buy.
What the trade offs are.
What accessories are available for amateur telescopes.
How Commercial Telescopes are different from those employed at major observatories (it's a LOT more than just the size of the mirror), and why those differences exist.

This project will employ several different resources.

Review of Chapter 6 in Kauffmann's or Seed's book. This discusses scientific telescopes primarily.
Web research at sites dedicated to amateur astronomy and telescope sales

Some examples:

S&T Tests of Telescopes

http://www.skypub.com/resources/testreports/testreports.shtml

Astronomy magazine--information for the beginning astronomer

http://www.kalmbach.com/astro/astronomy.html

Orion Telescope's basic info page

http://www.telescope.com/default.asp?page=techinfo

Library research into the ideas behind telescope design
Hands on experience with both the UW public telescopes and portable units.

The culmination of the project will be a 4 page paper detailing your understanding of amateur vs. scientific telescopes, the types of portable observatories, and your best recommendation for a family that might want to pursue a broad based backyard observing hobby. This paper will be due on May 12^th.

Option 2:

For students who cannot make 3 out of the 4 honors discussion sections, or who would rather do an independent project, there is an option to write a longer paper (10 pages for astronomy 100, 8 pages for 103 and 104). You must meet with your professor a minimum of 3 times to discuss the choice of a topic and your progress.
This paper will be due on May 12^th.