Astronomical Observations and Techniques

Catalog description

Designed for students interested in astrophysics who have some background in math and astronomy and want to learn about techniques for obtaining and analyzing astronomical data. This course will review the properties of light and discuss the process of experimental design. The course will describe basic observational tools such as telescopes and detectors. It will discuss how data is obtained, and how features of the detector and the Earth's atmosphere can be corrected for. Some topics in basic astronomical data analysis will be discussed, with topical emphasis determined by the instructor. Some simple data analysis projects will be assigned. May be repeated up to 3 credits.