The Project from an Ungergraduate Point of View

Taking real data
at a real research facility
doing real science
and contributing to real publications.

Commitment
Each student or group will have an assigned block of time and group of galaxies (there are 54 in the survey). They will be responsible for taking data, judging its quality, reducing it, and doing basic analysis. We will have regular group meetings to discuss progress and science.

Each person or group will observe both remotely (on-campus/home)initially work from the telescope until competent enough for remote (on-campus/home) observing.

Logistics

• Take data every available day at LST ~9--16.
  • Know your assigned block of time and be ready (keys, coords...).
  • Check weather, telescope schedule, solar time of observations, etc.
  • Coordinate with other (possibly outside) observers at observatory.
  • Possibly live like a vampire several days/month.
• Do routine pointing and calibration.
  • Make consistent pointing and focus observations and choose appropriate pointing source(s).
  • Ably switch between observing modes (backends, azoff...).
• Be consistent and rigorous with observing.
  • Properly record observing information (date, weather, gax, MAP setup, observer, etc.).
  • Regularly store and backup data files.
  • Check and help each other.
  • Maintain regular communication (e.g., group meetings).
• Make basic data checks, reduction and analysis.
  • Learn SPA, CLASS, whatever is useful.
  • Learn to recognize good or bad data.
  • Make line ratios, calculate statistics, etc. The student is limited only by their own enthusiasm.
• Present results.