You may complete up to three of these over the course of the semester. Each is worth 50 homework points (equivalent to one half of a weekly homework). All options except #2 require that you (a) take notes during the event and have one of the facilitators sign your notes verifying that you attended and (b) write a one page (double spaced) page describing what you did and what you learned.

 

(1)         Attend a Lecture Outside of Class

  • University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Lab Evening Lecture Series

(2)         Report on a Recent Astrononomy-Related News Article

 

Any reliable news source is fine (newspaper, science magazine, podcast etc.), although regardless of what you pick you should schedule a day to present and send me your article at least 1 week in advance. This option requires that you summarize the article for your classmates in a ~2 minute presentation at the start of class. You will also be expected to field questions from your classmates about the article.

Some good places to start looking:

  • Astronomy Picture of the Day (http://apod.nasa.gov/apod)
  • NASA News (www.nasa.gov/news)
  • Or, follow the twitter feeds of Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) or Phil Plait (@BadAstronomer) – both comment frequently on astronomy-related news

(3)         Attend a “Star Party”

  • Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association
    • Most TAAA star parties are “private”, but some are public
    • See their calendar for more details – look for entries that have an “SP” for star party but don’t say (Private) after them or e-mail them about attending or setting one up yourself
    • http://www.tucsonastronomy.org/Public-Calendar.htm

(4)         Take a Tour

  • Kitt Peak National Observatory
    • Open daily 9am -4pm except holidays
    • Admission to visitor center and self-guided tour of the mountain are free
    • Guided tours daily at 10am, 11:30am and 1:30pm $7.75
    • More info at www.noao.edu/outreach/kpvc

(5)     Attend a Nightly Observing Program

  • Kitt Peak National Observatory Nightly Observing Program

(6)   Other

Subject to approval by Kate in advance