The Course description :

Observational laboratory involves use of small aperture telescopes and binoculars, star charts, constellation identification, celestial coordinate systems, solar and sidereal time system, short exposure and deep-sky astrophotography.

What this really means :

You get to hang out at Lake Sonoma gazing into the depths of our galaxy and beyond as you learn to use and understand telescopes, binoculars and cameras.

We have some really cool toys!

You'll see satellites around Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, nebulae, open and globular clusters, galaxies, supernova remnants and the occasional Fireball. You'll take pictures of your favorite deep-sky objects and learn how to properly brag about them.

One of the neatest things gained from Astron 12 is knowledge of the constellations. Not long after humans first developed the ability to imagine, they gained the ability to hallucinate. You'll learn what strange and twisted entities our ancestors saw in the night sky, and the even stranger names they had for them.

One star you'll become quite familiar with is Polaris, better known as the North Star. With its guidance you'll come to understand how the sky appears to rotate around our average little planet in this average little galaxy in our average little corner of the universe. Click here for some perspective.

You get to go to the legendary Astron 12 potluck too...