Teaching-Labs

Practical work

Practical work has been an integral part of the undergraduate teaching since the earliest days - see the reminiscences by Geoff Jones. It takes two forms: timetabled laboratory classes, mainly in the first and second years, and project work, mainly in the final year. The introduction of the MPhys degree in the early 1990s (first cohort entered in October 1993) led to a hybrid course, the MPhys Advanced Laboratory, for third year MPhys students, in which students had access to the lab, but there were timetabled sessions with a demonstrator present. When the Foundation Year programme was introduced in the late 1970s [or maybe 1980s: date needs checked], that also included a laboratory class.

Practical work in astronomy has also been undertaken by members of the Astronomical Society, which has existed in various forms since the earliest days, and as part of public outreach.

Astronomy teaching laboratory

For many years, practical work in astronomy was carried out only during projects in the final year. However, with the introduction of the new undergraduate Physics with Astrophysics programme in October 1990, it was decided to start a first-year practical class, often referred to as the 'astrolab', as an integral part of the new first-year courses Astrophysics I and II. At first, the lab was sited in a cold and draughty pair of rooms constructed where the original entrance to the Physics 1 building had been (the draughts were because the old glass doors formed one wall and were not properly sealed). Later, it moved to a better site on the 2D corridor of Physics 1, replacing the Physics Stores when they closed, and most recently (in 2010/11) it moved to the top floor of Pevensey 2, to be close to the roof-top telescope set up in the summer of 2009 (see below). The experiments were of three sorts. A few used Sky Survey films, obtained as part of the Edinburgh Astronomy Teaching Package, and one used a set of photographic images of the dust rings around SN 1987A. Several used scripts originating from Sky & Telescope, while the rest were computer-based, using the CLEA software.

Astronomy practical project work (including observations made by the Astronomy Society and others)

Available telescopes

Over the years, the astronomers have accumulated quite a number of portable telescopes (some more portable than others), but not very many of our telescopes have been permanently mounted. Until recently, the earliest recorded telescope was a 6-inch refractor telescope gifted to the Astronomy Society by a local amateur astronomer, Mr Edward Madge. However, very recently the department was contacted by an early chemistry student, F. R. ('Andy') Andrews, who had been a moving spirit in the Astronomy Society, and brought news of an earlier telescope. His account of these early days is here, including pictures of that first observatory. An account of what happened to Mr Madge's telescope after Dr Andrews left Sussex, with pictures of the building of Mr Madge's original observatory near Haywards Heath and of the building and inauguration of the observatory housing it at Sussex, is here.

Sadly, that second observatory suffered increasingly from vandalism and had to be abandoned in 1988 after a serious break-in and theft. For a period, there was no permanently mounted telescope, while various unsuccessful attempts were made to persuade the university to fund a roof-top observatory. In the 1990s, there were two new developments. Firstly, an 8-inch Meade LX200 telescope was bought for the Astrolab and, largely thanks to the ingenuity and hard work of Mike Hardiman and Barry Farmery, it was mounted on a framework that could be raised through a sliding roof-light in the Astrolab (then in Pevensey 1) for observing. Some pictures of this telescope are here. Secondly, having purchased an 18-inch telescope from another amateur astronomer, Harold ('Dick') Robin, who lived in Tunbridge Wells, it was eventually possible to mount it in a purpose-built observatory at what was then the University's conference centre at the Isle of Thorns, in Chelwood Gate - then a dark site on the edge of the Ashdown Forest. This observatory was officially opened in September 1996 by the then Director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, Professor Alex Boksenberg; pictures, and an account of the search for the site and its use for public outreach, can be found here.

In about 2008, a new 10-inch Meade telescope was bought, which was finally mounted on the roof of Pevensey 2 in the summer of 2009. After a lot of teething problems, it was finally made to work properly during 2010-11. It replaces the previous 8-inch Meade, which is no longer permanently mounted because of the move of the Astrolab from Pevensey 1 and the consequent dismantling of the telescope mounting.

Publications from projects

Cotton, A. and Smith, R.C., "The theoretical spread of the main sequence due to stellar rotation", Observatory,103, 8-12, 1983.

Narita, E., Schroeder, K.-P. and Smith, R.C., "Light curve and physical parameters of the Algol-type binary TW Cas, Observatory, 121,
308-315, 2001.

Karamath, J., and Smith, R.C., "CCD observations of two RR Lyraes and a suspected RR Lyrae, Observatory, 123, 195-203, 2003.

Karamath, J. R., Jenner, A., Smith, R.C. and Lloyd, C., "Further observations and Fourier decomposition parameters of the RR Lyrae
stars TY Ari and EX UMa, Observatory, 124, 203-206, 2004.

Cano, Z. and Smith, R.C., "Does the RR Lyrae variable DY And show the Blazhko effect?, Observatory, 130, 11-16, 2010.
[Corrigendum: 130, 196, 2010] [This corrigendum was simply to print properly a figure that the printers messed up!]