AS101, Introductory Astronomy Syllabus

My Description: During this course we shall look up at the stars and answer the question, twinkle twinkle little star how I wonder what you are. We will also find out where to look for what in the sky and why some things are more easily seen in certain parts of the sky than others. We shall assemble a celestial sphere. Since almost everything we know about the cosmos comes from observing electromagnetic radiation (light), we shall spend some time talking and observing the properties of light. Many of these properties are outside everyday experience. We shall see how spectroscopes are used to break light apart by wavelengths and how different gases have unique light signatures (spectra) when heated. We shall assemble a spectroscope. We shall assemble a simple telescope of the same quality as Galileo use in 1610 to revolutionize our understanding of the universe. We shall assemble an ancient astronomical calculating machine called an astrolabe. With this we can predict the position in the sky of stars and the sun. We will measure the brightness and color of of an open star cluster by running a computer program that is a virtual reality. We will measure the period of the orbits of the four bright moons of Jupiter by running a computer program that is a virtual reality. We will measure the orbital period of the planet Mercury by running a computer program that simulates bouncing a radio pulse sent from a radio telescope from Earth to Mercury and back. We shall see how and with what precision distances to planets, stars, galactic star clusters, globular star clusters, galaxies, metagalaxies, and super galactic clusters are determined. We shall see how color, temperature, mass, brightness, chemical composition, and age all affect stars. We shall have fun while doing this.

Clientele: Anyone who wants to understand the bigger universe outside of this planet.

Prerequisite: Willingness to read, think, and communicate. Any student who may need an accommodation due to a disability, please make an appointment to see me.  A letter from Disability Support Services authorizing your accommodations will be helpful.

Text: Discovering the Universe 5th edition by Neil Comins and William J. Kaufmann as primary text and College Astronomy Kit by William Luzaderas the laboratory manual.  The college astronomy kit includes besides a laboratory manual, a 16 power telescope (similar to the one Galileo used), a celestial sphere, and a spectrometer.  You get to build and keep all of this stuff.  It is real neat, especially the spectrometer.  You will also purchase the Janus Personal Astrolabe-Modern Edition by James Morrison.  This astrolabe is the best astrolabe made in the last 400 years and is an equal to the best ancient instruments. Discovering the Universe comes with a CD-ROM which has the entire text and some videos and simulations that are not in the text.  Even if you do not own a CD-ROM you may use your CD-ROM in the Math Science Learning Center, SN101 and SN102.

My Expectations:

1. That you read the assigned portions of the text before coming to class.
2. That you will ask questions on the assigned portion that you did not understand.
3. That you will answer one simple question on the miniquiz which will chiefly test whether you have done the above two things.
4. That you will keep your Astronomy portfolio current for every class.
5. That you will take the two tests during the semester and the one final exam.
6. That you will appreciate our place in the universe.

1. Miniquizes after question period and laboratory exercises---10%.
2. Two tests during the semester---40% (that is 20% per test).
3. One final exam, which will be comprehensive---50%.

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 class. 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.
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. For you to really understand the meaning of astronomy's words and terms you must express it in your own words.
3. Notes taken in class about things that I say and problems that I work. Sometimes I will tell you things in a different way than in the text, or I may feel that certain ideas need to be introduced sooner than they appear in the book.
4. Laboratory exercisers that we do inside and outside of class.
5. 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--5, which are done on each chapter in the text, the journal will contain laboratory exercises from College Astronomy Kit, and some labs that I will hand out written by me that are not in the lab book. Some of the most interesting things we will do all semester will be in these laboratory exercises. In the rear of the portfolio will be two graded exams with all of the exam questions that you missed reworked and done correctly. The same question or a very similar one will likely appear on the final. Physically the portfolio can be a ringed binder or a cheaper brad binder. Papers will have to be taken in and out and rearranged from time to time. A spiral bound notebook will not work well. Please bring this to class, always! I will want to look at it from time to time to see how you are doing. Remember this is ultimately a portfolio for you. You can use your AS101 portfolio on the tests. It should be clear and neat enough so that not only I can understand what you are doing, but that you can understand what you did when you look at it ten years from now.

In the following list reading assignment chapters are in italic type, DTU stands for Discovering the Universe, and lecture titles are in boldface type.

Thursday, September 2 Introduction for the course (class 1)
I. Rules for the Class
II. Scope of Astronomy

Tuesday, September 7: Realm of the Universe (class 2)
DTU,  Foundation I:  Discovering Astronomy
I.  Powers of Ten
II. Rotation and Revolution---Sun, Earth, and Moon Dance we will assemble night nocturnes. Please bring a pair of scissors for cutting paper.

Thursday, September 9: The Heavens (class 3)
DTU,  Chapter 1:  Discovering the Night Sky
I. The Celestial Sphere we will assemble the celestial sphere from
your college astronomy kits.  Bring the College Astronomy Kit box to class, please bring a pair of scissors for cutting paper, also.
II. Eclipses

Tuesday, September 14: Physical Laws (class 4)
DTU, Chapter 2: Gravitation and the Waltz of the Planets
I.  Kepler's Laws
II.  Newton's Laws
Turn in Celestial Sphere laboratory exercise.

Thursday, September 16: (class 5)
CLASS CANCELED on ACCOUNT of hurricane Floyd.
Adjustments made in all of the subsequent classes.

Tuesday, September 21: Gravitation (class 6)
I.  Universal Gravitation
II. Orbital Dynamic Simulators and Dance of the Planets
Turn in Using the Celestial Sphere to Understanding Astronomical Coordinate Systems laboratory exercise.

Thursday, September 23: Light (class 7)
DTU, Chapter 3: Light  and Telescopes
I. The Electromagnetic Spectrum, the Universe at Many Different Wavelength
II. Refracting and Reflecting Telescopes we will assemble the Galilean telescope from the college astronomy kit.  Bring the College Astronomy Kit box to class.

Tuesday, September 28:  Spectroscopy (class 8)
DTU, Chapter 4: The Origin and Nature of Light
I. Kirchoff's Laws
II. Spectral Explorer we will assemble the spectroscope from the college astronomy kit.  Bring the College Astronomy Kit box to class.

Thursday, September 30: Atomic Physics (class 9)
I. Atomic Physics
II. Stefan-Boltzmann's Law and Wien's Law

Thursday, September 30: Review for Test 1 (class 10)
I. Doppler effect
II. General Review for the test  "The Realm of the Universe, the physical laws''.

Tuesday, October 5: Astrolabes (class 11)
Bring your Janus Astrolabe to class
Please read the manual that comes with the Janus Astrolabe.  You don't have to understand everything about using the astrolabe, but you had better be familiar with the vocabulary.  There will be a quiz on astrolabe parts at the beginning of class.  There will not be a quiz on how to use it until the first test!
I. Astrolabe basic
II. Astrolabe advanced Some questions you should be able to work on your astrolabe to pass the first test and final exam.

Thursday, October 7: The Solar System as a Whole (class 12)
DTU, Foundation II: The Solar System
I. The Walk of the Planets
II. Metal, Rock, and Ice or how to build planets

Tuesday, October 12: Test 1  (class 13)
Test 1: "The Realm of the Universe, the physical laws"
Chapter 1--4 in DTU and plus problems on your astrolabe.  Bring you astrolabe to class.

Thursday, October 14: Terrestrial Planets (class 14)
DTU, Chapter 5:  The Earth and Its Moon
DTU, Chapter 6:  The Other Terrestrial Planets
I. Plate Tectonics and the Rock Cycle
II.  Heat Transfer in Terrestrial Planets
We will go to the MSLC to start doing the CLEA lab "Radar Rotation of Mercury (manual)." A data form which will help you do the Radar Rotation of Mercury Lab. Download CLEA "Radar Rotation of Mercury  (a zip file you must unzip and install yourself on a PC not a Mac) if you want to do it at home and not in the MSLC."  Download CLEA "The Moons of Jupiter (a zip file you must unzip and install yourself on a pc not a mac)" if you want to do it at home and not in the MSLC.

Tuesday, October 19: Gas Giants (class 15)
DTU, Chapter 7: The Outer Planets
I. Jupiter and Saturn
II. Gas Giants, What Good are they?
Turn in report on CLEA Radar Measurement of the Rotation Rate of Mercury done on a computer.
Start doing the CLEA lab "The Moons of Jupiter (manual)."  Download CLEA "The Moons of Jupiter (a zip file you must unzip and install yourself on a PC not a Mac)" if you want to do it at home and not in the MSLC.

Thursday, October 21: Far out and little stuff in the Solar System (class 16)
DTU, Chapter 8:  Vagabonds of the Solar System
I.  Big Moons and Small Moons
II. Asteroids and Comets, how much of a difference is there really?
Turn in report on CLEA Revolution of the Moons of Jupiter done on a computer.

Tuesday, October 26: Review for test 2  (class 18)
I. General Review for the test "The Realm of the Planets'' the test is next class period

Thursday, October 28: Sol or Helos (class 17)
DTU, Chapter 9:  Our star, the Sun
I. Solar Nuclear Energy Production and Models for the Sun (where have all the neutrinos gone)
II. Sun Spots, Sunburn, and the Surface of the Sun
Construct an equatorial sundials.

Tuesday, November 2:   Test 2 (class 19)
The test  "The Realm of the Planets''
Chapter 1--8 in DTU .

Thursday, November 4: Nature of Stars (class 20)
DTU, Foundation III:  The Stars
DTU, Chapter 10: The Nature of Stars
I. Stellar parallax, distance to the Stars
II. Stellar Spectra and the H-R diagram

Tuesday, November 9: Stellar Evolution (class 21)
DTU, Chapter 11: The Life Cycles of Stars
I. Star Formation
II. Star Maturity and Later Old Age Giants
Contemporary Laboratory Experiments in Astronomy (CLEA) lab "Photometry of the Pleiades Star Cluster (manual)"  Download CLEA "Photometry of the Pleiades Star Cluster (a zip file you must unzip and install yourself on a PC not a Mac)" if you want to do it at home and not in te MSLC.

Thursday, November 11: Star Deaths (class 22)
DTU, Chapter 12: The Death of Stars
I. White Dwarves, Neutron Stars, and Black Holes
II. The Formation of the Elements
Turn in report on CLEA Photoelectric Photometry of the Pleiades done in computer lab.

Tuesday, November 16:  Relativity (class 23)
DTU, Chapter 13: Black Holes
I. The Special Theory of Relativity or what happens when things approach the speed of light
II. The General Theory of Relativity or gravity as curvature of the fabric of space-time

Thursday, November 18:  Our Galaxy the Milky Way (class 24)
DTU, Foundation IV:  The Universe
DTU, Chapter 14: The Milky Way Galaxy
I. The Shape and Form of Our Galaxy  Build a model of our galaxy.
II. Star Formation in our Galaxy and Spiral Arms

Tuesday, November 23: Other galaxies (class 25)
DTU, Chapter 15: Galaxies
I. Types of Galaxies Use the small angle formulae to get distances to galaxies.
II. Galaxies in Collision

Tuesday, November 30: AGN (class 26)
DTU, Chapter 16: Quasars and Active Galaxies
I. Is Most of the Universe Missing? Or How do you weigh a galaxy anyway?
II. AGNs, Black Holes, and Jets:  Where have we seen this picture before, but at a different scale?

Thursday, December 2: Cosmology (class 27)
DTU, Chapter 17:  Cosmology
I. The Early Universe
II. COBE, Cosmic Background Explorer

Tuesday, December 7: ET phone home? (class 28)
DTU, Chapter 18: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life
I. Have We Found ET Yet?
II. How would you find ET?

Thursday, December 9,  I wonder about, review for final (class 29)
I. General Review of galaxies, stars, and everything else in the entire universe

Thursday, December 16,  FINAL} (class 30)
Comprehensive final on everything in the course.  Bring your astrolabe to class.

• Block and Byrd, Earth and Sky Daily comments on the sky short but informative
• Sky Publishing's home page.
• Astronomy Magazine home page.
• CLEA, Contemporary Laboratory Exercises in Astronomy The computer labs that we do in this class are downloadable from here with their student instruction manuals.
• Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute, public information page.
• The best information on astrolabes on the web
• Astronomy Picture of the Day this changes every day.

The CLEA, Contemporary Laboratory Exercises in Astronomy, are installed on twenty Pentium computers in the MSLC.  You will have to use them in the MSLC, or copy them and run them on your own IBM compatible computer with Windows 3.1, or Windows 95 or Windows NT.  You have to do and turn in to me three of these CLEA labs.

Teach each other astronomy.  Teaching is the best way to learn something.  The science learning center can become your assurance of understanding astronomy if you take advantage of it.  Forming study groups and meeting with your study group partners in the MSLC or the library when the MSLC is closed is a good way of studying  so you will pass the exams.
Fall semester hours for the MSLC are Monday and Thursday 9A.M.—8P.M.; Tuesday and Wednesday 9A.M.—4P.M.; Friday 9A.M.—4P.M., Saturday 9A.M.—4P.M., and Sunday not yet sure weather their will be hours.  The telephone number there is 240-567-1427. Where else in the world can you get service like that except at Montgomery College.
 

• Sunday, September 5, 9pm at University of Maryland at College Park observatory on Metzerott Road in Prince George's County speaker:   Dr. Lee Munday on the topic:  "The Dusty Origins of Stars."
• Monday, September 20, 9am at University of Maryland at College Park observatory on Metzerott Road in Prince George's County speaker:  Dr. Andrew Harris on the topic: "Astronomy's Practical Side:  Where on Earth am I?".
• Thursday, September 23, 7-8PM Planetarium at Takoma Park public show, "When the Sky Falls" Extra Credit opportunity.
• Saturday, October 2, 7:30PM Lipsett Auditorium Clinical Building of the National Institutes of Health, National Capital Astronomers meeting and lecture Extra Credit opportunity.
• Tuesday, October 5, 9pm at University of Maryland at College Park observatory on Metzerott Road in Prince George's County speaker:   Dr. Patrick Harrington on the topic: "Observing Planetary Nebulae with HST."
• Saturday, October 16, 7-8PM Planetarium at Takoma Park public show, "How are Stars Born?" Extra Credit opportunity.
• Wednesday, October 20, 9pm at University of Maryland at College Park observatory on Metzerott Road in Prince George's County speaker:  Dr. Marvin Leventhal on the topic:  "Discovery of Anti-Particles at the Center of our Milky Way Galaxy."
• Friday, November 5, 8pm at University of Maryland at College Park observatory on Metzerott Road in Prince George's County speaker: Dr. Doug Hamilton on the topic:  "Hubble Vision."
• Saturday, November 6, 7:30PM Lipsett Auditorium Clinical Building of the National Institutes of Health, National Capital Astronomers meeting and lecture Extra Credit opportunity.
• Saturday, November 20, 7-8PM Planetarium at Takoma Park public show, "Total Solar Eclipses" Extra Credit opportunity.
• Saturday, November 20 8pm at University of Maryland at College Park observatory on Metzerott Road in Prince George's County  speaker: Dr. Lucy McFadden on the topic:  "NASA's Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Mission:  Getting NEARer to 433 Eros."
• Saturday, December 4, 7:30PM Lipsett Auditorium Clinical Building of the National Institutes of Health, National Capital Astronomers meeting and lecture Extra Credit opportunity.
• Sunday, December 5, 8pm at University of Maryland at College Park observatory on Metzerott Road in Prince George's County speaker: Dr. Marc Pound on the topic:  "How Do We Know Anything about the Universe?".
• Monday, December 20, 8pm at University of Maryland at College Park observatory on Metzerott Road in Prince George's County speaker: Dr. Patrick Shopbell on the topic:  "Astronomy Through the Millenia:  Our Changing View of the Heavens."
• Wednesday, December 22, 7-8PM Planetarium at Takoma Park public show, "The Day of the Sun’s Return, the Winter Solstice" Extra Credit opportunity.
• The University of Maryland at College Park does not have a planetarium, but they do offer excellent graduate education should you wish to pursue a Ph.D. in astronomy or astrophysics after you have your undergraduate degree in physics, or mathematics, or electrical engineering. They also have regularly scheduled public nights on the 5th and 20th of every month at their observatory on Metzerott Road in Prince George's County.  You may want to go to one of their public nights especially if the weather is cloud free.  To check for  times and speakers check their web sight at http://www.astro.umd.edu/openhouse/.  If you write at least a one page paper on what you learned at the talk you will earn extra credit.  If you describe and draw as crude sketch of what you saw though the telescope if it is clear you will earn more extra credit.
• The United States Naval Observatory on Massachusetts Avenue in Washington DC is opened every Monday night that is not a federal holiday for the public to look through telescopes when it is clear.  The United States Naval Observatory has the largest and most interesting telescopes in the Washington Metro Area.  To check for times check their web  sight at http://www.usno.mavy.mil/pao/tour/tour_info.html.

Montgomery College's Planetarium home page.
web page by Dr. Harold Williams
last modified October 25, 1999.