Catalogue Description: Elementary descriptive astronomy emphasizing appreciation of the earth's relationship to the universe. Information collection and data analysis techniques utilized in astronomy. Lecture discussions cover the basic laws of physics, the solar system, stars, nebulae, and galaxies; the origin and evolution of the universe; the possibility of life throughout the universe. Laboratory exercises in the use of celestial coordinates; the determination of time and position, studies of stellar photographs and spectra. Field trips to area observatories and occasional evening assignments for observation. 4 semester hours

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 studying 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 excited. We shall assemble a spectroscope.  We shall assemble a simple telescope of the same quality as Galileo used in 1610 to revolutionize our understanding of the universe. We will learn how to use an ancient astronomical calculating machine called an astrolabe, the earliest personal computer. With this we can predict the position in the sky of stars and the sun. We will measure the brightness and color 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.

Course Materials

1. Horizons, Exploring the Universe by Michael A. Seeds  7th edition as primary text.
2. The College Astronomy Kit by William Luzaderas the laboratory manual.  The college astronomy kit includes: besides a laboratory manual,
• a celestial sphere (we will do two laboratory exercises after we assemble this celestial sphere),
• and a spectrometer. You get to build and keep all of this stuff. It is real neat, especially the spectrometer,
• a 16 power telescope (similar to the one Galileo used).
3. 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. It also comes with an extensive 40 plus page manual. The Janus Personal  first used by college students at Montgomery College at Takoma Park. 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 hundred well educated people at any one time alive.

1. That you read the assigned portions of the text and take notes that  will go into your Astronomy Portfolio.
2. That you will ask questions on the text and any assignments that you  didn't 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  can use 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  13, 2003 in class, will count 20%
2. Final test given May 15, 2003 in class, will count 40%.
3. Participation in treaded discussion on line or asking question in class will count 7%.
4. Miniquizes at the start of class right after question time will count 3%.
   
5. Laboratory exercises will 30%. Obviously these labs 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 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.

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 Dr. Seeds (the textbook author) 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.   Some of the most interesting things we will do all semester will be in these laboratory exercises.

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 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.

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.

• Lectures
• NCA, National Capital Astronomers, meet first Saturday of the month at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center of Montgomery County, 4805 Edgemore Lane, second floor at 3:00pm. Your instructor is the web master currently a trustee and he was the president of NCA for two years and the vice presidentfor two years before that.  The public is always invited.
• Air  and Space Museum Lectures on astronomy
• Goddard ,Scientific Colloquia Friday afternoons public invited, but you must call at least 24 hours ahead to be cleared and these are scientific colloquia for other scientists not necessarily specialists.
• 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 Activities meets Friday afternoon in the planetarium around 1:30pm.  Trips and adventures this academic year.

Math Science Learning Center at Takoma Park
As you may need some assistance in understanding some labs and as three labs are done on the computer the Math Science Learning Center, MSLC, in Science North Room 101 has the computer astronomy labs already installed on at least 20 pentium computers.  There is also an assembled celestial sphere and other helpful aids in the MSLC to help you study for the exams and to do the labs.  For MSLC hours see http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/mslc/.  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 May 8, 2003 at 8:31pm by  Dr. Harold Alden Williams .