Universitäts-Sternwarte München

Fakultät für Physik der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität

Astrophysical lab course
for Master’s students

Summer semester 2025

P 2.1/2 · WP 16.1/2 · WP 17.1/2
P 2.1 · WP 1.1 · WP 2.1/2

Astrophysical basic lab · observational and instrumental lab · numerical lab

Announcement:

At the beginning of the semester, we will offer a small introductory tutorial covering the basics of Linux and Python. This course provides a very basic introduction, aimed at students with little or no previous experience in either Linux or Python. It will take place on Tuesday, April 29th, 15:00–18:00 and Tuesday, May 6th, 11:15–13:00 at the University Observatory, Scheinerstraße 1. If you are not familiar with Linux and Python, we strongly recommend attending this course. This knowledge is important for successfully completing the lab courses, as well as some tutorials accompanying various lectures (a basic understanding of Linux and Python is assumed and will not be taught during those courses). The →registration deadline for the introductory tutorial is April 17th.

General information:

The astrophysical basic lab requires background knowledge in astrophysics, such as taught in the “introduction to advanced astrophysics” lecture. We strongly recommend doing the astrophysical basic lab in the second semester, after having taken the “introduction to advanced astrophysics” course in the first semester. We recommend doing the numerical lab or the observational and instrumental lab in the first semester.

Organizational matters:

Places and Times:

Tuesday 13:30–18:00, main lecture hall, ground floor, University Observatory, Scheinerstraße 1.

Briefing for summer semester 2025:

Tuesday, 29th of April 2025, 13:30.

Note: Master’s students in astrophysics or physics who have already completed their first semester of labs do not have to participate in this briefing if they send email to the course organizer (Arno Riffeser) confirming that they will attend this course. You may request other students as possible partners for the labs (but there is no guarantee).

Date of first lab:

Tuesday, 6th of May 2025, 13:30.

This lab course is for:

Master’s students in astrophysics and physics only.
LMU Bachelor’s students in physics can be admitted if they are already admitted to the Master’s program in astrophysics or physics and if we have enough tutors!
Students who have applied for the Master’s program in astrophysics or physics but have not been admitted cannot participate in this lab.

In case you have questions or need further information (regarding these lab courses):

Please contact Dr. Arno Riffeser (arri_at_usm.lmu.de) or Dr. Tadziu Hoffmann (hoffmann_at_usm.lmu.de) by email.

Further information:

• VNC for the labs (version SoSe2025) (see also here).
• Lab structure, procedure, and guidelines for your lab report and feedback (version SoSe2025).
• Here you can obtain all the lab manuals.
• Lab schedule for the summer semester 2025 (lab experiments and supervisors). — Updated 2025-05-27 —
• This is a cover sheet that you should fill in for all your lab reports.