Physics Home > Teaching Labs > Astronomy > Variable Stars

Topics

Points of Emphasis

Prerequisites

Lab Activities

This lab has three parts:

Part I - Spectral Classification

The purpose of this part of the lab is for the students to examine how spectral types are assigned to stars using realistic data. The lab uses lab exercises from Project CLEA .

Part II - Photometry of Stars in the Pleiades

In this part the students use the software from Project CLEA to construct an HR diagram of the Pleiades cluster. From this they calculate the cluster's age and distance modulus

Part III - The Period of d Cephei

During the first half of the term the students are required to take magnitude measurements on d Cephei. This data is put into a database for use by a Mac application called Astro2. This program plots a light diagram of the data. The student's task is to determine the best period for d Cephei by reducing the scatter in the combined light curve.

Course Level

Introductory

Student Handouts

Equipment

Notes

Last Update:

Site contact: largent@Dartmouth.EDU

Top     Physics Home     Lecture/Demo     Site Map