Design and Observation in Astronomy

Learning Outcomes

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Employ practical skills in operating complex equipment under difficult circumstances (e.g. extreme weather conditions)
• Devise a solution to a complicated problem in a relatively short period of time
• Operate in small teams with each member having a specific responsibility

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Operate a telescope and find their way around the sky in celestial co-ordinates
• Process data using image processing programmes on PCs.

Cognitive Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Construct positive interactions with other members of a close team
• Work closely with people from a different country and background

Module One – Design in Astrophysics

The focus of this part of the course will be a design study for an astronomical spacecraft. It will last one week with the final presentations on the last day. The students will make use of lectures, tutorials and library facilities to assemble a review of the state of knowledge for such a proposed instrumentation challenge. They will work in parallel in 5-6 competing teams made up of half British and half Spanish students. The aim will be to produce a well thought-out presentation after a week of intensive work. The major aspects to be covered will be:

• A summary of the scientific objectives
• An indication of the overall approach to the task and the reasons for the selection of the particular design
• A detailed discussion of the various features in the design solution that was adopted
• The presentation of experiment simulations, models etc.

Module Two – Observational Astronomy

This second module of the course will provide just the Southampton students with a unique opportunity to make a number of quantitative observations at the Teide Observatory, Izana (altitude 2400 m). They will use the 50 cm Mons telescope which is equipped with a CCD camera, and a smaller portable telescope (LX200), also using a CCD camera. In recent years we have also been given access to the research-class IAC-80 0.8 m telescope which employs a large, liquid nitrogen ncooled CCD camera. It is expected that the students will typically spend at least 8 hours per night for 5 nights working on this part of the course.

Module Three - Analysing Data and Reporting Results

The third part of this course takes place after the return from Tenerife. Here, students are required to choose and carry out a scientific project for which observations were obtained during Module Two. After completing their analysis and interpretation of the observations, they have to write a report in the form of a scientific paper on their work and prepare a poster on the same project. Both the report and the poster are assessed, the latter during a poster session in which students present their poster to members of the astronomy group.

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

I Ridpath (1998). Norton's Star Atlas and Reference Handbook. Longman.

Assessment strategy

Students must obtain a pass mark in each of the three modules. Module three (only) may be referred.

Due to space limitations at the observatory, only 12 students can take part in this module. Offers to participate are made only to the 12 academically strongest students registered on the MPhys with Astronomy programme, based on performance in Year 1. Academic performance will be judged by the credit-weighted Year 1 average, using only marks obtained at the first attempt (i.e. no referral marks).

Only students registered on the MPhys with Astronomy programme by the end of the summer term of their first year will be considered for invitation on to this module.

Due to the nature of the module, there is no opportunity to repeat this module. Students who do not achieve a pass mark will be required to select a different optional module in a repeat year.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.