Catalogue Description: Elementary descriptive astronomy emphasizingappreciation of the earth's relationship to the universe. Information collectionand data analysis techniques utilized in astronomy. Lecture discussionscover the basic laws of physics, the solar system, stars, nebulae, andgalaxies; the origin and evolution of the universe; the possibility oflife throughout the universe. Laboratory exercises in the use of celestialcoordinates; the determination of time and position, studies of stellarphotographs and spectra. Field trips to area observatories and occasionalevening assignments for observation. 4 semester hours

My Description: During this course we shall look up at the starsand answer the question, twinkle twinkle little star how I wonderwhat you are. We will also find out where to look for what in the sky andwhy 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 aboutthe cosmos comes from observing electromagnetic radiation (light), we shallspend some time studying and observing the properties of light. Many ofthese properties are outside everyday experience. We shall see how spectroscopesare used to break light apart by wavelengths and how different gases haveunique light signatures (spectra) when excited. We shall assemble a spectroscope.We shall assemble a simple telescope of the same quality as Galileo usein 1610 to revolutionize our understanding of the universe. We will learnhow to use an ancient astronomical calculating machine called an astrolabe,the earliest personal computer. With this we can predict the position inthe sky of stars and the sun. We will measure the brightness and colorof an open star cluster by running a computer program that is a virtualreality. We will measure the period of the orbits of the four bright moonsof Jupiter by running a computer program that is a virtual reality. Wewill measure the orbital period of the planet Mercury by running a computerprogram that simulates bouncing a radio pulse sent from a radio telescopefrom Earth to Mercury and back. We shall see how and with what precisiondistances to planets, stars, galactic star clusters, globular star clusters,galaxies, metagalaxies, and super galactic clusters are determined. Weshall 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 universeoutside of this planet.

Prerequisite: Willingness to read, think, and communicate.

Course Materials

1. Horizons,Exploring the Universe by Michael A. Seeds  7th edition asprimary text.
2. The 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 isreal neat, especially the spectrometer.
3. Janus Personal Astrolabe---Modern Edition by James Morrison. This astrolabe is the best astrolabe made in thelast 400 years and is an equal to the best ancient instruments. It alsocomes with an extensive 40 plus page manual. The Janus Personal Astrolabewas first used by college students at Montgomery College at TakomaPark. All well educated people in the middle ages knew how to use astrolabes.Of course, in the middle ages there were probably no more than a hundredwell educated people at any one time alive.

1. That you read the assigned portions of the text and take notes that willgo into your Astronomy Portfolio.
2. That you will ask questions on the text and any assignments that you didnot understand using the threaded discussion in the communication section.
3. That you will complete a number of labs.
4. That you will keep your Astronomy Portfolio up to date so you canuse it on the exams.
5. That you will take a midterm test and a final exam.

That you will appreciate our place in the universe.

1. Middle test given March  7, 2002 in class, will count 20%
2. Final test given May 9, 2002 in class, will count 40%.
3. Participation in treaded discussion on line will count 10%.
4. Laboratory exercises will 30%. Obviously theselabs are very, very important!

Montgomery College has a policy of encouraging writing across all curricula.The AS101 Electronic Portfolio a written record of your AS101 studyand learning. Keeping this electronic portfolio will help you learn astronomyand keeping a portfolio in any class will help you understand and rememberthe course material. It will also help you get a substantially higher gradein the course. It will consist of several parts. Your portfolio will beorganized in chapters similar to the chapters in the book and it will havethe following subsections in each chapter.

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

2. Vocabulary words defined in your own words. Most of the vocabularywords 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 essenceof the word. For you to really understand the meaning of astronomy's wordsand terms you must express it in your own words--have faith in your ownexpression.  Your expression of a definition will be better for youwhen done right than Dr. Seeds (the textbook author) definition in theglossary, which is after all best for him not you; but it can be used asa check to see if you have got it approximately right.

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

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

Besides items 1--4, which are done on each chapter in the text, thejournal will contain laboratory exercises from The College AstronomyKit, and all other labs like the CLEA, Contemporary Exercises in Astronomy,that you will install and run on your computer.  I will mail by posta CD-ROM that has the CLEA labs that you will install. Some of the mostinteresting things we will do all semester will be in these laboratoryexercises.

Remember this is ultimately a portfolio for you. Youcan use your AS101 portfolio on the tests! It should be clearand neat enough so that not only another student can understand what youare doing, but that you can understand what you did when you look at itten years from now.

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 scientificallyone of the richest places. Write at least one page (around 250 words) aboutwhat you learned during an astronomy lecture or a clear night viewing througha telescope at an observatory. Please draw a sketch of anything that yousaw though a telescope. Send me a copy, but keep one for yourself as itbelongs in your journal.

• Lectures
• NCA , National Capital Astronomers,meet first Saturday of the month at Lipsett Auditorium in the ClinicalBuilding at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda at 7:30pm. Your instructor is the webmaster and was the president of NCA for two yearsand the vice-president for two years before that.  Public invited.
• Air andSpace Museum Lectures on astronomy
• Goddard ScientificColloquia, Friday afternoons public invited, but you must call at least24 hours ahead to be cleared and these are scientific colloquia for otherscientists not necessarily specialists.
• Observatories
• USNO , UnitedStates Naval Observatory, open every Monday that is not a federal holiday.
• UMD , University of Marylandat College Park has an observatory open on the 5th and 20th of every monthon Metzerott Road in Prince George's County.
• Shows
• MC planetarium , public astronomy show (at these you actually get to see your professorDr. Harold Williams).
• EinsteinPlanetarium at the Air and Space Museum on the mall.
• Rock Creek Nature CenterPlanetarium on Glover Road in NW DC.
• Maryland Science Center DavisPlanetarium , Inner harbor Baltimore.
• Exhibits
• Natural History Museum on the mallin DC.
• Air and Space Museum on the mallin DC.
• MC ScienceClub Activities meets Friday afternoon in the planetarium around 1:30pm. Tripsand adventures this academic year.

Math Science Learning Center at Takoma Park
As you may need some assistance in understanding some labs and as threelabs are done on the computer the Math Science Learning Center, MSLC, inScience North Room 101 has the computer astronomy labs already installedon at least 20 pentium computers.  There is also an assembled celestialsphere and other helpful aids in the MSLC to help you study for the examsand to do the labs.  For MSLC hours see http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/mslc/ .  As of September 4,2001 the MSLC hours will most likely be Monday through Thursday: 8:30am-7:00 pm, Friday: 8:30 am - 3:00 pm, Saturday: 10:00 am-4:00 pm, and Sunday:closed.  Check the web for possible changes in hours of operation.

Changed last on February 14, 2002 at 8:30pm by Dr.Harold Alden Williams .