Monday Lab Section 1: 7-9pm Sec. 2: 9-11pm
Tuesday Lab Section 3: 7-9pm Sec. 4: 9-11pm
Lab: Kennon Observatory
Lab Instructor: Dave Robertson
Text: Cosmic Perspective, 3rd, J. Bennett et al.
Read These Chapters Before Class:
| Date |
Subject |
Chapter |
| 8 Jan |
Introduction, Distances, light years, constellations |
1 & 2 |
| 13 Jan |
Matter, Energy, Temperature, Atomic energy levels |
4 |
| 15 Jan |
Kepler's 3 laws, Newton's Laws, Gravity, orbits |
5 |
| 20 Jan |
Light, Wavelengths, Spectral Lines, Doppler Shift |
6 |
| 22 Jan |
Spectroscopes, Wien's Law, Black Body Radiation |
6 |
| 27 Jan |
FIRST HOUR EXAM |
|
| 29 Jan |
Making the 200" Telescope at Mount Palomar |
7 |
| 3 Feb |
Telescopes: Optical, Radio, X-ray... |
7 |
| 5 Feb |
Why does the sun shine?, Sunspots, Neutrinos |
15 |
| 10 Feb |
Distances, Luminosity, Temperature, and Size of Stars |
16 |
| 12 Feb |
HR Diagram, Binary Stars, Stellar Masses |
16 |
| 17 Feb |
Clouds of Gas Condense into Stars |
17 |
| 19 Feb |
Old stars Move off the Main Sequence, Variable Stars |
17 |
| 24 Feb |
Red Giant and White Dwarf Stars |
17 |
| 26 Feb |
Two kinds of Supernovae can explode |
18 |
| 2 Mar |
Crab Nebula |
18 |
| 4 Mar |
SECOND HOUR EXAM |
|
| 16 Mar |
Neutron Stars and Gravity Waves |
18 |
| 18 Mar |
Black Holes |
18 |
| 23 Mar |
Our Milky Way Galaxy, Globular Star Clusters |
19 |
| 25 Mar |
100 Billion Galaxies |
20 |
| 30 Mar |
Finding Distances with Cepheid Variables, Galaxies |
20 |
| 1 Apr |
Hubble's Law, Redshifts, and Distances |
20 |
| 6 Apr |
Quasars and Active Galaxies |
21 |
| 8 Apr |
Dark Matter in Galaxies and Galaxy Clusters |
22 |
| 13 Apr |
What is Dark Matter? |
22 |
| 15 Apr |
THIRD HOUR EXAM |
|
| 20 Apr |
Cosmology, Expanding Universe, Big Bang, 3 K Radiation |
23 |
| 22 Apr |
Early Universe, Inflation |
23 |
| 27 Apr |
Particle Physics and the Big Bang |
24 |
| 29 Apr |
Search for Extraterrestrial Civilizations |
24 |
| 6 May |
COMPREHENSIVE FINAL EXAM, 4:00pm, Thursday |
Grading Scheme:
| Lab |
25% |
You must do at least 70% of the labs to pass. |
| 1st Exam |
12% |
|
| 2nd Exam |
12% |
|
| 3rd Exam |
12% |
|
| FINAL EXAM |
24% |
|
| Pop Quizes |
15% |
You will need a scientific pocket calculator. The Texas Instruments TI-30Xa is a good choice.
Extra Credit(Worth Up to 5%):
Read Stephen Hawking's book, "A Brief History of Time." Write one page summarizing and commenting on each chapter, a total of 11 pages. Due April 29.
Please come to the lab night and time you have signed up for.
Labs are a required part of the course.
You must do at least 70% of the labs to pass.
Labs start on Monday night, January 19.