Undergraduate Academics
Astronomy Activities
The list of all supported activities is in the table below. You might also want the Astronomy Projects Page with all the observing proects as well as planetarium and Starry Night (or other computer planetarium software) projects, meant to be done outside of class time.
Some other useful information:
- Documentation and help for the lab computers
- copyright policy
- To report problems, email astro-labs
- Get Adobe Acrobat Reader to view pdf versions of labs!
- Help Improve the activities - take our survey
Activity Title
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Downloads |
| The Age of the Universe | |
| The Analemma and Time (Planetarium) | |
| Brightness and Surface Brightness (Planetarium) |
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| Cepheid Variables You will need the introduction and the appropriate worksheet and graphs. |
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| The Celestial Sphere Note: There are two versions of this lab, a long one for lab sections and a shorter one for discussion sections. Be sure to download the correct version. Ask your instructor for clarification if needed. |
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| Comets -- Make Your Own | |
| The Conceptual Celestial Sphere A second version of the celestial sphere lab. Not as analytical. Ask your instructor which to use. |
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| Constellation Activities (planetarium or outdoors) |
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| Coordinate Systems (planetarium, observatory, classroom or computer) You will need the introduction no matter which version you are doing. Check with your GSI for which other parts you will need. |
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| The Crab Nebula |
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| Craters Note: There are two versions of this lab, a long one for lab sections and a shorter one for discussion sections. The lab version has two separate links. The discussion version only one link. Be sure to download the correct version and get all of the appropriate pieces. Ask your instructor for clarification if needed. |
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| Daytime Observing at Angell Hall (observatory) | |
| Discovery of Extrasolar Planets | |
| Drake Equation From the Life in the Universe Activities Manual |
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| Extra-solar Planets | |
| Finding Exoplanets: a simulation (computer) | |
| Finding the Milky Way with the Brightest Stars (planetarium) You will need the star chart for both versions. You may also need the list of constellations if you don't have a list that includes the abbreviations in your book. |
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| Galactic Star Clusters Note: There are two versions of this lab: Data on paper and data on computer. Be sure to download the correct version of the introduction, as per your instructor. The worksheets and graphs are the same for both versions of the lab. |
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| Galaxy Classification Note the checklist and Table 2 should be printed "Landscape" This is usually under "page setup" under the File menu |
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| Geologic Age
You will need the intro. Check with your GSI for the other parts. The 6 images for the relative dating part are easier to view online and are linked within the activity |
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| Geologic Features of Mars |
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| H-R diagram Note: single sided printing is recommended for the worksheet |
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| Lunar Features | |
| Martian Surface Features Note: There are three versions of this lab, a long one for lab sections with 4 parts, a shorter one for discussion sections, and a discussion version using Google Earth. Ask your instructor for clarification if needed. |
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| The Milky Way Disk (planetarium) |
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| Moons of Jupiter |
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| Motions in the sky (planetarium) | |
| Motions of the planets (planetarium) |
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| Natural Selection | |
| Nebulae in Cygnus | |
| Optics (Telescopes) | |
| Parallax | |
| Phases of the Moon | |
| Phases of the Moon in the Planetarium (planetarium) |
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| Precession (planetarium) |
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| Reading Star Charts (planetarium) | |
| Retrograde Motion of Venus (planetarium) | |
| Rotation of Spiral Galaxies (Tully-Fisher Relation) | |
| Seasons (planetarium, computer)
You will need one of the introductions, and one of the worksheets. |
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| Size of the Solar System
If you are doing an outside version, you also need to get the Map |
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| Searching for Life | |
| Solar Observing (observatory) | |
| Spectral Classification and The Pleiades Note there are 3 versions: one using Luminosity and flux, one using magnitudes and one for discussion sections. Ask your instructor for clarification if needed. |
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| Spectroscopy Note: There are two versions of this lab, a long one for lab sections and a shorter one for discussion sections. Be sure to download the correct version. Ask your instructor for clarification if needed. |
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| Starry Night (computer) | |
| Stellar Evolution | |
| Stellar Populations and the Milky Way Halo(planetarium) | |
| Stellar Structure | |
| Structure of the Milky Way Disk | |
| Structure of the Milky Way Galaxy (planetarium) |
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| Timekeeping and Telescopes at the Detroit Observatory (observatory) |
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| The Explorer Series (WWW) | |
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| Observing Series | |
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