Homework

Nov 28:
The last one: Written homework #13 due ** Friday 10 Dec 10, at 5pm ** (revised)
(Here is the original LaTeX file).
Remember that the written part of this assignment has to be in LaTeX format. If you finish early, experiment with time series and their power spectra to build up an intuition.
Be sure to have read the sections in Numerical Recipes that deal with Fourier Transforms and Power Spectrum Estimation (Ch 12 and 13).

Nov 22:
Written homework #12 due Monday Nov 29.
(Here is the original LaTeX file).

Nov 3:
Written homework #10 DUE WED NOV 10
(Here is the original LaTeX file).
Check to see if the paper you selected for HW 2.1 has been updated recently on the LANL preprint server (arXive). Check to see if it has actually appeared in press. If so, get the version that has been published. Download or photocopy from the library any key papers that this preprint makes reference to and read those papers. Take notes. Start to prepare a 5-minute talk on the paper. The talk should include figures from the paper and your own figures to help explain the paper. Limit yourself to 3 viewgraphs (put these on paper, not actual viewgraphs so we can use the document viewer - or use some presentation software like PowerPoint or OpenOffice Impress). The presentations will be made sometime after Dr. Etzel's lectures.

Oct 25:
Written homework #9 (Here is the original LaTeX file).
- Continue to become proficient using IRAF, especially CCDPROC.
- Midterm exam next Wednesday (Nov 3).

Oct 18:
Written homework #8 due Oct 25.
(Here is the original LaTeX file).
- Continue to become proficient using IRAF, especially ccdproc.
- Review on your own the Color-Magnitude Diagram (aka Hertzsprung-Russell diagram) and stellar classification.

Oct 11:
Written homework #7 due Oct 18.
(Here is the original LaTeX file).
- Practice using IRAF, especially CCDPROC.
- Read Chapter 7 in Howell.
- Suggested reading: Read the paper by Alonzo et al. on TrEs-1, the newly discovered extrasolar planet that we observed at MLO on Oct 2.

Oct 04:
Written homework #6 due Oct 11.
(Here is the original LaTeX file).
- Practice using IRAF, especially imexam.
- Read Ch 5 in Bevington & Robinson
- Start to get familiar with LaTeX.

Sep 27:
Written homework #5.
(Here is the original LaTeX file.)
Part A due at MLO on Friday Oct 1; Part B due in class on Mon Oct 4.
- Be sure to read MLO Handbook and User's Guide to Direct Imaging and CCD Photometry with the MLO 40-Inch Reflector.
- Read Chapter 5 in Howell.
- Practice using ds9 (or ximtool) and IRAF. Be sure you've read the IRAF guides.
- Carefully read the paper you downloaded from the astro-ph arXive for homework 2.1; make notes, go through all the derivations, etc..

Sep 20:
Written homework #4 (and in LaTex format hw-4.tex ).
- Read Chapter 4 in Howell's Handbook of CCD Astronomy
- Become proficient with ds9 and/or ximtool
- Become proficient with xfig or some other unix drawing program (like The Gimp)
- Get a copy of the IRAF manuals "A Beginner's Guide to Using IRAF" and "A User's Guide to CCD Reductions with IRAF". Become familiar with material in Ch 1-6 in the Beginner's Guide. Pay particular attention to the task imexamine.

Sep 13:
Homework #3 (hw-3.ps) (and in LaTex format hw-3.tex ) due Monday Sep 20.
- Become proficient with NASA's Skyview
- Read Chapter 4 in Bevington & Robinson
- Read Chapters 3 and 4 of Howell's Handbook of CCD Astronomy. Note the typo in figure caption 3.6.
- Keep on programming!

Sep 8:
Homework #2 (hw-2.ps) due Sep 15.
- Keep learning unix!
- Become proficient in a scientific language (FORTRAN, C, etc.); practice, practice, practice!
- Read Chapter 2 of Howell's Handbook of CCD Astronomy

Sep 1:
- Read Chapters 2 and 3 of Bevington & Robson
- Note: The written homework #1 requires the use of the propagation of errors formula eq. 3.14 in Bevington.
- Look at the sample test programs for help with FORTRAN.

Aug 31:
- Learn unix as fast as you can!
- Read Ch 1 and Appendix C of Howell's Handbook of CCD Astronomy
- Read Ch 1 of Bevington & Robinson's book Data Reduction & Error Analysis for the Physical Sciences
- Written homework #1 homework #1 due Tues Sep 9. The file is in PostScript format (hw-1.ps) (and in the original LaTeX format).
Note typo in Q 4: It should have been "uncertainty in magnitude (sigma_m)", not "(sigma_m / m)". This typo has been corrected in the LaTeX and PostScript.
If your browser does not automatically open the PostScript document, then do the following:
- save the file (typically click with the right mouse button, the choose the save option). Call it hw-1.ps or something like that.
- type the command: > gv hw-1.ps This will start the "ghostview" program.
- ghostview will display the document on the screen and you have the option of printing it: use the commmand "lpr -Plaser".
- If you want, you can send the PostScipt file directly to the printer using the command:
> lpr -Plaser hw-1.ps

Late Homework Policy:
Each homework is worth 50 points. Late homework will incur a penalty as follows:
4 points deducted for 1 day late; 1 points deducted each day thereafter (including weekends). The maximum penalty is 11 points (8 days late), after which no additional loss of points will occur. So even if you are 3 weeks late in doing the assignment, it is much better than not doing it at all.
Observing/Conference Policy:
If you get permission in advance, you may be given a 1 or 2 day extension on the homework if you are observing at MLO or attending a research conference.