Catalog Description: A basic course elaborating on topics briefly covered in AS 101 including black holes, pulsars, planetary structure, galactic structure, radio and x-ray astronomy. A major portion of the course is devoted to observing and observational techniques. Laboratory sessions cover such topics as the use of computer-controlled telescopes for visual and electronic observation, planning observations, CCD imaging and image processing techniques. Numerous nighttime observing sessions will be conducted. (NSLD) PREREQUISITE: AS 101 or consent of course instructor. Three hours lecture, three hours laboratory each week.

Course Outcomes:
Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to:

My Description:
Going much deeper into astronomy, very project oriented will be offered this semester, as it last was several years ago.  If you took AS101 and enjoyied it and made and A or a B then perhaps AS102 is for you.   If you are an amateur (do something because you truly love it) astronomer {your instructor in this class, Dr. Harold Williams, is both an amateur astronomer and a professional astrophysicist and a planetarium educator} and you understand astronomy at the AS101 level at least; and know what planets there are around Sol, that there are some moons around the planets, the Sun (our star), the stars, the Milky Way (our Galaxy) and other galaxies and would like to know more about how the universe works and where to find things in the real sky (celestial coordinates), how to make every sundial known to mankind, how to use an astrolabe (an ancient sky computer that Geofrey Chaucer wrote about in 1387), would like to lean how to apply a little quantum mechanics to spectra of stars and galaxies, would like to learn more about dark matter and dark energy and some of the alternative to this darkness, and are interested in exploring the frontiers of the universe in time and space then perhaps this course is for you, too.  If you are a teacher that teaches science in elementary, middle school, or high school, you might also find this course useful and profitable (you could even write learning modules, lesson plans, to be use with your students).  If you are a youth group leader at your church, synagogue, or mosque or a scout leader of any type you might find this course useful, too.  If you just want to know where you are and where we are going as a species of semi-literate and semi-numerate and semi-intelligent carbon based life forms you might also enjoy this class on-line.  If you are an alien (non-human) pretending to be a human so the humans will not hurt you, you might enjoy registering for this class to avoid detection of your type of alien in the future as we humans expand out into the cosmos.  All being with an inquiring mind are welcome even synthetic life forms base upon Silicon or Germanium/Arsenide if there are any currently residing on the planet are welcome to register, too.  You will need a computer and a web browser with INTERNET connections in your domicile or spacecraft.   Unlike AS01 where you just have to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, arithmetic, with a calculator on a lab occasionally; and could make an A even if you were a remedial mathematics student, but did what it says in the syllabus in this course, it would be helpful to be able to solve or follow very simple algebraic or geometric reasoning.  If you have forgotten what a logarithm or exponentiation is don't worry, we will review it, it is actually very simple and will make you a powerful person capable of amazing your neighbors at cocktail parties and other chit chat occasions.  You will be able to make and A without doing calculus or solving ordinary, or partial differential, or integral equations.  This is Intro to Modern Astronomy NOT Intro of Modern ASTROPHYSICS.  We will learn all of the PHYSICS and CHEMISTRY and GEOMETRY that is necessary to do simple astronomy.  This course will not turn you into a professional astronomer or astrophysicist that takes years, not one semester.  I know, as I am an astrophysicist, and it took me a long time to become what ever it is that I have become.   This AS102 class though will help you become what ever you eventually become that might require knowing about the larger universe outside of Earth; which is on the shore of the cosmic ocean, surrounded by violent hot chaos and cold 2.7 Kelvin black-body radiation in the current epoch, but become more orderly as the universe not only expands in space and progressed in time, but it rate of expansion in space is now accelerating even though in the distant past the universes rate of expansion was decreasing according to our more resent measurements.  Oh yeah, and on December 19, 2012 exoplanets around tau Ceti a star around 12 light years away were discovered with masses near enough to the earth's mass and in the habitability zone (liquid water could exit on these planets) of a metal deficient star sort of like our Sun, Sol or Helios.  My Description:

Clientele: Anyone who wants to understand the bigger universe outside of this planet and who made and A or B in AS101 or understands the material in AS101 through life experience or some other introductory astronomy course.

Prerequisite: Willingness to read, think, and communicate. The catalogue says assessment levels:

Course Materials

1.  The Cosmic Perspective 6th edition by Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, and Voit as primary astronomy text $154.50. new in bookstore or http://www.coursesmart.com download  text or one line subscription for 180 days for $60.10 (make sure you get The Cosmic Perspective not the Essential Cosmic Perspectives which is shorter and more expensive.  It is very hard to share text books with a friend while taking the course and pass the course.
2. A Janus Astrolabe that you can buy in the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Bookstore.  You can also pay more money and get it directly from Janus, he will mail it directly to your home though if you are taking this course from an extreme distance.
   

1. That you will complete a number of astronomy labs that may be done as small group activities or solo if you wish to work alone.
2. That you will keep your Portfolio up to date so you can use it on the astronomy exams.
3. That you will appreciate our place in the universe and have discovered your own answer to the question of how the universe reveals knowledge and wisdom.

R:         Sean Fay                         240-567-7479     sean.fay@montgomerycollege.edu
TP/SS: Andrew Herst                 240-567-3945     andrew.herst@montgomerycollege.edu
G:         Richard Berglund         240-567-1992     richard.berglund@montgomerycollege.edu

1. 
   
2. Miniquizes (a READING the CHAPTER QUIZ) at the start of every class right after question time will count 7%.  It is very important to read the text before the lecture, you will be tested on this in the miniquizes, they count almost as much as one of the regular test!  Do the math here.
   
3. Laboratory exercises will 30%. Obviously these labs are very, very important! You can not pass this course unless you do all of the lab projects!
   

Montgomery College has a policy of encouraging writing across all curricula.  The AS102 Electronic Portfolio a written record of your AS102 study and learning. Keeping this electronic portfolio will help you learn astronomy and keeping a portfolio in any class will help you understand and remember the course material. It will also help you get a substantially higher grade in the course. It will consist of several parts. Your portfolio will be organized in chapters similar to the chapters in the book and it will have the following subsections in each chapter.  If you are still "old school" or not yet prosperous and do not own a laptop or palm computer you may want to make you AS101 Portfolio on paper in a 3 ring binder.  Many students in past semesters have made an A using 3 ring binders.   Some students have made an A with their AS101 portfolio on a laptop computer or tablet like the iPad.  You may even take the exams midterm and final on your laptop or on paper the way most people still do.  I write the test as a Microsoft Word file. USB keys, diskettes, zip disks, and wireless Internet connections are all possible ways of getting the test on your machine in the planetarium. One student has made an A with his electronic portfolio on a Siemens SX-56 pocket PC phone several years ago.  I think he did the writing on a regular laptop computer and just downloaded the files in Word to his phone.  He did take the midterm and final on paper, though.  I am technologically savvy and opened to creative students figuring out other possibilities, too.  Spiral bound notebooks are not suitable as AS101 portfolio, because you can not rearrange things!

1. Notes in outline form of the chapter. You should also include questions in here about things that you didn't understand when you read the text. These questions you will ask me in our threaded discussions.  I like to answer questions. Make me happy. Everything, definitions and all, should be expressed in your own words. You need to make astronomy real to yourself. Writing about it will help you do this. You have to organize your thoughts to write about them. Write as you read, please. Do not read an entire chapter in the text before summarizing it. Summarize subsections before going on to the next subsection.  If you have never studied this way before, please start doing it this way.  You will lean more, remember more, and understand more.  You will even work less for the same letter grade!

2. Vocabulary words defined in your own words. Most of the vocabulary words will be in bold face type the first time they are used in the text.  Do not copy the definition out of the glossary. I will consider that plagiarism.  You may want to look in the glossary to see if you have captured the essence of the word. For you to really understand the meaning of astronomy's words and terms you must express it in your own words--have faith in your own expression.  Your expression of a definition will be better for you when done right than Doctors Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, and Voit (the textbook authors) definition in the glossary, which is after all best for him not you; but it can be used as a  check to see if you have got it approximately right.

3. Laboratory exercises that you do. Always make a copy of your labs before you email me a copy.

4. A recapitulation or synthesis of all of the important ideas summarized  in the chapter. You do this only after items 1--3 are finished. You should use this to study for test taking.

Besides items 1--4, which are done on each chapter in the text, the journal will contain laboratory exercises from The College Astronomy Kit, and all other labs like the CLEA, Contemporary Exercises in Astronomy, that you will install and run on your computer.   But you don't own a computer, don't worry, all of the CLEA labs that we will do are installed on computers in the Science Learning Center in Science North 100. The Science Learning Center is opened 6 days a week: Monday-Thursday 8:30AM-7PM, Friday 9AM-3PM, and Saturday 10AM-4PM!  Some of the most interesting things we will do all semester will be in these laboratory exercises done on a computer. The computer Lab ST304, Student Technology Center also has the CLEA labs installed; and it is opened 7 days a week: Monday-Thursday 7:30AM-10PM, Friday 8AM-9PM, and Saturday and Sunday 9AM-5PM. 

Remember this is ultimately a portfolio for you. You can use your AS102 portfolio on the tests! You should not use your text book on the exams.  If you are reading the matrerial for the first time on the exam you will probably fail or make a miserable grade. (added February 21, 2012) This means that my test do not require you to memorize crap that you will forget at the end of the class. This does mean that I can ask you really hard questions on the final exam like: "Compare and contrast the atmospheres of  Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars."  To answer this question you have to know the composition (what is in the atmosphere, they are not all the same) and the pressure and temperature of each of these four planet's atmospheres.  Who remembers details like that?  I don't, (and I have spent more than half a lifetime studying this stuff) but I know how to use it when it is in a clear table that I wrote or you wrote in an AS101 portfolio.  This is real science, not just memorizing temporarily a few cute facts that will soon be forgotten.  It should be clear and neat enough so that not only another student can understand what you are doing, but that you can understand what you did when you look at it ten years from now.  A follow up question based upon the previous question is: What three properties of a planet and what two physical laws make a planets atmosphere?
Portfolio Resources:
763 web pages from the Horizons by Michael Seeds
HTML and PPT files from Horizons by Michael Seeds
PowerPoint Lectures from a former text 9th edition Horizons: Exploring the Universe by Michael Seeds modified by your  instructor
Even though we have changed text these previous resources from the old text are fine.
PowerPoint Lectures from your last semester modified by your instructor http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/planet/CosmicP4/.
PowerPoint Lectures from the current semester modified by  your  instructor http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/planet/CosmicP5/. 
Chris Impey's http://www.teachastronomy.com fairly new site, actually a Wiki.
Pictures of AS101 students after I take them and post them up.

Major Resources to use all throughout this class:

• Teach Astronomy from Dr. Chris Impey, professor of astronomy at University of Arizona an online resource for College Students and informal learners.
  

Schedule of Textbook Reading Assignments, extra reading assignments, laboratory assignments, and tests

Extra Credit Opportunities
The Washington Metro area is currently the naval of the planet earth (the capital of the only remaining superpower) and is culturally and scientifically one of the richest places. Write at least one page (around 250 words) about what you learned during an astronomy lecture or a clear night viewing through a telescope at an observatory. Please draw a sketch of anything that you saw though a telescope. Send me a copy, but keep one for yourself as it belongs in your journal.  Turn in a newspaper article or a news item on current new astronomy article from the internet with your name written on it to me. 

• Lectures
• NCA, National Capital Astronomers, meet second Saturday of the month at the University of Maryland at College Park's observatory on Metzerott Road in Prince George's County. Your instructor is the web master; and formerly was the president, vice president, and trustee  of NCA and is a long time member.  The public is always invited.  This is a very broadly base astronomy club.  Some of  our members are students (high school and college), some are lawyers, some are teachers, some are scientist in some discipline other than astronomy, some are retired, and a few of our members are professional astronomers (four NCA members who are professional Ph.D. astronomers have names asteroids name after them; Dr. Nancy Grace  (retired program scientist for the Hubble), Dr. Vera Copper Rubin (discovered dark matter, taught at MC Takoma Park many years ago), Dr. David Dunham (leads occultation expeditions), and Dr. Mike A'hearn (Is currently the PI for "Deep Impact" not the movie, but the spacecraft.).
  
• Observatories
• USNO,  United States Naval Observatory, open every Monday that is not a federal holiday.
• UMD, University of Maryland at College Park has an observatory open on the 5th and 20th of every month on Metzerott Road in Prince George's County.
• Shows
• MC planetarium, public astronomy show (at these you actually get to see your professor Dr. Harold Williams, again).
• Einstein Planetarium at the Air and Space Museum on the mall.
• Rock Creek Nature  on Glover Road in NW DC.
• Maryland Science Center Davis Planetarium, Inner harbor Baltimore.
• Exhibits
• Natural History Museum on the mall l in DC.
• Air and Space Museum on the mall in DC.
• MC Science Club meets Friday afternoon in the planetarium around 3:00pm this academic year.
  

Student Technology Center, ST304
Another computer lab that has computers for you to do the CLEA labs on.  They are even open on Sundays on the third floor of the Student Services building, ST, the Charlene Nunley building at 7625 Fenton Street, where security is located. Monday through Thursday 7:30am-10pm, Friday 8am-5pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am-5pm.  Nice computers and nice people, but do not expect them to know enough astronomy particularly the details of the CLEA labs to help you do more than find the icon to click on the computer.  Be courteous and be finished before they close and have to tell you to leave.  They have a life to just like you.

Changed last on 4:44PM Tuesday May 7, 2013 by Dr. Harold Alden Williams.