Latest SOHO Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope Fe IX,X 17.1 nm solar image Latest SOHO Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope Fe XII 19.5 nm solar image Latest SOHO Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope Fe XV 28.4 nm solar image Latest SOHO Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope He II 30.4 nm solar image Latest soft X-ray solar image in the titanium-polyimide (

{Tiny solar photospheric magnetogram thumbnail image} {Tiny 1083.0 nm solar thumbnail image} {Tiny solar chromospheric magnetogram thumbnail image} {Tiny groundbased coronagraph image} {Tiny pseudo-continuum solar photospheric thumbnail image}

(Above) Solar images, from various telescopes and spacecraft. Click on them for more detail.

PHYS 151 Observational Astronomy
TuTh 6:00-7:15 (lecture), in-person in Science 2, Room 310
Tu or Th 7:30-9:20 (lab),
in the Campus Observatory.

2024 Fall Course Syllabus:
Please read carefully 		Instructor: Professor Ringwald
E-mail: ringwald[at]csufresno.edu and replace [at] with @
Phone: (559) 278-8426
Office: Room 11 in the J wing (Building J) of McLane Hall.

Office hours (in-person, between August 22 and December 12):
TuTh 2-3 p.m. and We 2-5 p.m.

Course description: (4 credits) Prerequisite: PHYS 4C. Celestial coordinates, time, stellar motions, constellations, star charts, catalogs, astronomical sources, observational limits, telescopes, detectors, atmospheric effects, digital image processing, photometry, and spectroscopy. (3 lecture, 2 lab hours)

Required Course Texts:

Recommended Course Equipment:
Recommended Course Texts (copies of all are in the Campus Observatory and in McLane 220):
If you want to be a professional astronomer, or a research scientist in any field, read this entire book,
which is so good I give copies to students who register in Phys 190 or 290 (Independent Study) to do research with me:


TENTATIVE list of topics to be covered (updated 2024 August 21):
Week Date Topic Date Topic Read by Wednesday of next week
1 8/20 No class 8/22 Introduction;
Astronomical Computer Resources 		Web Power Tools article and the entire Class Syllabus; Chapters 4 and 5 of Gallaway (Position and Time);
The Stars, by H. A. Rey (the whole book);
Section A of the Class Notes (Classical Astronomy).
2 8/27 Position and Time 8/29 Position and Time Section B of the Class Notes (the Friendly Manuals).
3 9/03 Using the Telescope 9/05 Constellations, star charts, and star catalogs Chapter 6 of Gallaway (Names, catalogs, and databases).
4 9/10 Astronomical coordinate systems 9/12 Spectroscopy Chapters 2 and 13 of Gallaway (Light and spectra);
Chapter 9 of Berry & Burnell (Spectroscopy).
5 9/17 Spectroscopy 9/19 Astronomical Sources:
thermal (blackbody) radiation 		Section C of the Class Notes (Astronomical Sources).
6 9/24 Astronomical Sources:
line radiation (the H atom) 		9/26 Astronomical Sources:
planets, stars, nebulae, and galaxies 		Chapter 3 of Gallaway (Optics and telescopes)
7 10/01 Telescopes and Optics 10/03 Mid-Term Exam 1 Section D of the Class Notes (Telescopes);
Section E of the Class Notes (Seeing and Weather).
8 10/08 Telescope mounts 10/10 Detectors Chapter 7 of Gallaway (Detectors);
Chapter 11 of Gallaway (Statistics);
Chapters 1 and 2 of Berry & Burnell;
Section F of the Class Notes (CCDs).
9 10/15 CCDs/CMOS detectors 10/17 CCDs/CMOS detectors Chapter 8 of Gallaway (Imaging);
Chapter 3 of Berry & Burnell (Imaging Techniques);
Section G of the Class Notes (Practical Digital Imaging);
Section H of the Class Notes (Detectors).
10 10/22 CCDs/CMOS detectors 10/24 CCDs/CMOS detectors Chapter 9 of Gallaway (Digital image processing);
Chapter 4 of Berry & Burnell (Image Calibration);
Chapter 5 of Berry & Burnell (Image Analyis software).
11 10/29 CCDs/CMOS detectors 10/31 Digital Image Processing Chapter 10 of Gallaway (Photometry);
Chapter 8 of Berry & Burnell (Photometry).
12 11/05 Digital Image Processing 11/07 Digital Image Processing Chapters 17 and 18 of Berry & Burnell (Color and Advanced Imaging).
13 11/12 Imaging and Photometry 11/14 Imaging and Photometry
-
14 11/19 Imaging and Photometry 11/21 Advanced imaging;
Take-Home Mid-Term Exam 2 due
-
15 11/26 Holiday 11/28 Holiday
-
16 12/03 Advanced imaging 12/05 Advanced imaging
-
17 12/10 Advanced imaging; Projects and printed recipes due on last day of instruction, Tuesday, December 10. 12/12 No class
-


Class Objectives (also known as Learning Outcomes):
(1) To introduce physicists and other scientists to interesting techniques, particularly using telescopes and digital imaging.
(2) To provide teachers with a practical background for their science classes.
(3) To prepare astronomers for the research problems of the future, by getting them to the research frontier as quickly as possible.

Course grades will be awarded for the following final percentages:

85.000-100% = A; 70.000-84.999% = B; 55.000-69.999% = C; 40.000-54.999% = D; 0-39.999% = F.

These percentages will be computed with the following weights:

10% Homework, due in class during the first five minutes of class on dates to be annouinced. Sorry, but no late assignments will be accepted.
40% Four projects and recipes at 10% each (see below), due by email Tuesday, December 10.
15% Mid-Term Exam 1 (in class, closed book and closed notes) on Thursday, October 3.
15% Mid-Term Exam 2 (take-home, due in class on during the first five minutes of class) on Thursday, November 21.
20% Final Exam (open paper notes to be prepared by each student and no collaborating), 8:00-10:00 p.m. Thursday, December 19 in Science 2, Room 310.

Sorry, but I don't give make-up exams. Any student who misses either of the mid-term exams for a valid reason (job interview or illness documented by a physician's note) will have the exam grade voided and the remainder of the grade counted as 100%. Any student who misses the final exam will get a grade of I (Incomplete) for the course, to be made up when the next Final Exam for Phys 151 (Observational Astronomy) will be given.

Concerning exams: it is the student's responsibility to make sure all pages of the exam, as well as the student's answers for all of the questions stated on them, are present in the copy that the student turns in by the end of the time the exam is given. If any questions or answers are missing from the copy the student has turned in, no credit will be given for the missing items.

Course webpage: http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~fringwal/phys151.html

  • Central Valley Astronomers meetings (public welcome) will be at 7-9 p.m. in Round Table Pizza, 5702 North First Street #101 (in-person), on:
    September 6, October 4, November 1, and December 6.

  • Star Parties: Phys 151 students are encouraged to get as much observing experience as they can, with the Campus Observatory, and under a dark sky with the Central Valley Astronomers:

  • DO NOT EVER observe the Sun, with the Campus Observatory or any other equipment belonging to Fresno State, unless under Professor Ringwald's direct supervision.

    Some students treat doing their homework as a dreadful chore. This isn't right. Astronomy is an elective course, and it's a competitive profession. If it isn't fun, you may be happier in an easier, more lucrative field. One can make more money for less work doing just about anything other than astronomy, especially with a physics degree.


  • Projects and recipes: Forty percent of the course grade will be for up to four projects. These projects can be any combination of the following, each of which may be used for more than one of the four projects:

  • Professor Ringwald will allow students to collaborate with each other on homework and projects, provided everyone lists their "co-investigators." Scientists often do this, and the ability to collaborate well and work as part of a team is a good skill to have, in many professions. For a project, first authorship for any CCD image will be for whomever typed the commands into CCDSoft that took that image. Second authorship will be worth 1/2 as much as first authorship; third authorship will be worth 1/3, etc. If there is any doubt about credit, you can make sure you get it by doing one or more additional projects.

    If you do collaborate, it must be genuine collaboration, not one person doing all the work, and the others blindly copying. That's cheating! Therefore, while you may work on homework together, write up the results separately, in your own words. A dead giveaway is when two images are exactly the same: this is very noticeable.

  • Students with Disabilities: Upon identifying themselves to the instructor and the university, students with disabilities will receive reasonable accommodation for learning and evaluation. For more information, contact Services to Students with Disabilities in Madden Library (559-278-2811).


  • How exams are graded:
    If you don't remember the rules for significant digits, the following are four examples.

  • Students with Disabilities: Upon identifying themselves to the instructor and the university, students with disabilities will receive reasonable accommodation for learning and evaluation. For more information, contact Services to Students with Disabilities in the Henry Madden Library, Room 1202 (278-2811).

    University Policies -- The following University policies can be found at:

    University Services -- The following University services can be found at:

    Questions and Assistance: Contact the Undergraduate Studies office

    Useful Links

  • Contact Information for Chair: If there are questions or concerns that you have about this course that neither you nor I are not able to resolve, please feel free to contact the Chair of the Department of Physics to discuss the matter:

    Professor Douglas Singleton
    Department of Physics
    Email: dougs[at]csufresno.edu and replace [at] with @
    Phone: (559) 278-2523

  • Other astronomy courses at Fresno State include:

  • This syllabus and schedule are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances, such as poor weather or pandemics. If you are absent from class, it is your responsibility to check on announcements made while you were absent.

    Last updated 2024 August 21. Webpage by Professor Ringwald (ringwald[at]csufresno.edu and replace [at] with @)
    Go to Professor Ringwald's home page
    Department of Physics, California State University, Fresno. Please read this disclaimer.