Astronomy 121

Astronomy 121 is a lab course on radio astronomy. It is a four unit course.

Prerequisites

Astronomy 7A, Astronomy 7B, Math 53, Math 54 or Physics 89, Physics 5A, Physics 5B, and Physics 5C or Physics 7A, Physics 7B, and Physics 7C.

Student Comments

“Why take radio astronomy? CAUSE IT’S AWESOME. It provides the background you need to do research in radio astronomy. You get to learn how a radio telescope works from the ground up--to the point where if you had the materials, you could probably build one. Then, once you've done that, you get to learn how MULTIPLE radio telescopes work together to get an even better pictures of the sky. And all along you learn how to analyze and interpret the data coming in from the telescopes, figuring out what the hydrogen line is, how to find the orion super bubble, and how to determine the temperature of the moon and the sun. What advice can I give? The course is taught in python. Having experience in python definitely helps. Also a lot of time has to be put into the labs and lab write-ups. Expect at least 8 hours per writeup and 12-20 hours per lab, and the possibility of having to do certain parts of the lab twice either because you find the data is not sufficient, or was taken incorrectly (there are four labs total). It’s a given that having good lab partners helps, so if you find yourself in the situation where you are struggling to work well with your group, talk to a GSI or the professor. If you have no experience in astronomy, it might require a little more work at the beginning of class to get familiar with some vocabulary, but most of the class is self-contained so you should still be able to succeed in the course! That being said, Physics 111A helps with understanding how all the measurement tools and analog components work, so consider taking that course before taking this course.” – Guillaume Shippee, undergraduate physics/astrophysics