Jessie C. Runnoe
Vanderbilt University
| Date | Topic | Resources |
|---|---|---|
| January T 6 |
Introduction, celestial sphere, coordinates |
[notes][links] Chromey Ch. 3 |
| R 8 | Coordinates, Time | [notes][links] Chromey Ch. 3 |
| T 13 | HW1 co-working | |
| R 15 | Telescopes | [notes][links] Chromey Ch. 5-6 |
| T 20 | Plate Scale, Sampling, Resolution, Atmosphere | [notes][links] Chromey Ch. 5-6 |
| R 22 | Flux, Magnitudes | [notes][links] Chromey Ch. 1, 10, 10.8, 11.9 |
| T 27 | CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER | |
| R 29 | CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER | |
| February T 3 |
Detectors, Statistics |
[notes][links] Chromey Ch. 2,7.3-7.8,8, Howell Ch. 1-2 |
| R 5 | Signal to noise | [notes][links] Howell Ch. 4.4 |
| T 10 | Photometry: calibration | [notes][links] Chromey Ch. 9, Howell Ch. 4 |
| R 12 | Git and Python | [git][links] [exercises] |
| T 17 | Python, setup and flux conversions | [python][links] [exercises] |
| R 19 | Computing: image combination | [notes][links] |
| T 24 | Introduction to final project | [notes][links] |
| R 26 | Computing: data management | [notes][links] |
| March T 3 |
Computing: overscan subtraction | [notes][links] |
| R 5 | Computing: combining flats | [notes][links] |
| T 10 | SPRING BREAK | |
| R 12 | SPRING BREAK | |
| T 17 | Computing: apertures | [notes][notebook][links] |
| R 19 | Computing: finding stars | [notes][links] |
| T 24 | Photometric standards | [notes][links] Chromey Ch. 10 |
| R 26 | Diffraction and interference | [notes][links] Chromey Ch. 11 |
| T 31 | Spectrographs | [notes][links] |
| April R 2 |
Spectrograph example | [notes][links] Chromey Ch. 11 |
| T 7 | Proposal/HW6 work | |
| R 9 | Proposal/HW6 work | |
| T 14 | Time Allocation Committees | [notes][links] |
| R 16 | Panel Review |
- Homework 1 (due 01/20/2026 @ 09:30am CST; Solution)
- Homework 2 (due 02/10/2026 @ 09:30am CST; Solution)
- Homework 3 (due 02/24/2026 @ 09:30am CST; Solution)
- Homework 4 (due 03/17/2026 @ 09:30am CST; Solution)
- Homework 5 (due 03/31/2026 @ 09:30am CDT)
- Homework 6 (due 04/22/2026 @ 09:30am CDT)
Your final project assignment will be to write a NOIRLab observing proposal and conduct a Time Allocation Committee panel.
- final project topic and telescope/instrument choice due 03/05/2026 @ 09:30am CST
- final project outline is due 03/19/2026 @ 09:30am CST
- final project draft is due 03/31/2026 @ 09:30am CST
- final project final proposal is due 04/9/2023 @ 09:30am CST
- Preliminary grades are due 04/15/2026 @ 3:00pm CST
- Final exam is 04/16/2026 @ 09:30-10:45am CST
Your final project assignment will be to write a NOIRLab observing proposal and conduct a Time Allocation Committee panel. Your proposal and panel participation will be graded according to this rubric.
I have collected a number of example observing proposals (kindly shared by other astronomers). However, since some of these are still active research programs I ask that you do not share them outside of this class. In this spirit, they are available from our class Brightspace page for you to download privately.
You can find useful links for preparing your proposal, as well as some handy documents including definitions.