Extra Credit Options

You may complete up to two of these extra credit activities over the course of the semester. Each is worth either one lecture quiz or one class worth of participation credit. To receive credit, you should make a ~2-5 minute presentation to the class about what you learned.

(1) Attend a Lecture Outside of Class

Steward Observatory Public Evening Series

these are generally Monday evenings 7:30-8:30 pm, which is during our class, however, the following one is on a Friday

DATE	SPEAKER	TOPIC

February 28 (FRIDAY)	Dr. Alice Shapley University of California, Los Angeles	MARC AARONSON MEMORIAL LECTURE Decoding the Contents of Distant Galaxies

See https://www.as.arizona.edu/public-evening-lecture-series for schedule and directions

Sonora Astronomical Society

Second Tuesday of the month 7-9pm with observing on 14” telescope afterwards

La Posada recreation center

http://www.sonoraastronomicalsociety.org/

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

Any reliable news source is fine (newspaper, science magazine, 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)

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”

The University of Arizona Astronomy Club

Sporadically throughout the year

See http://astroclub.as.arizona.edu for a schedule

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

Steward Observatory Mirror Lab

Tuesday-Friday weekly at 1:00pm and 3:00pm

Reservation required

$8 for students

http://mirrorlab.as.arizona.edu