Astro Course Home Page

Astronomy 104
Spring 2026, Sections 1 through 4.

These are introductory courses to astronomy, with more emphasis on active thinking than memorizing facts. The main points of this course are (1) a general understanding of astronomy, (2) what can be observed in the sky, (3) the Solar System in 103 / the stars and the Universe in 104.

Lecture: Monday and Wednesday, 2:00-2:50, Lewis 101. Attendance is mandatory.
Laboratory: Once a week at night, rain or shine. For a detailed schedule, see the "Lab" link below.
Textbook: The Cosmic Perspective, J. Bennett et al. Any edition is acceptable, including electronic versions, but only paper copies may be used during tests.
Instructor: Dr. Tibor Torma, Department of Physics and Astronomy

- Office: Lewis 208; Phone 915-5627; Click here to send email.
- Office hours: after each class, or send email for appointment.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
*WELCOME TO ASTRONOMY!*
TEST 2 (originally March 20) has been canceled. A heavy rewiew quiz on deep -sky objects is coming up on Monday, March 22. For details, see the 'Presentation' link below. Pass-fail test is coming up on March 27.
Students must have a scantron (#16485) and a pencil (no pen) for each class. (This adds up to ~25 scantrons for the whole semester.)

What's up in the sky?

Solar Activity is in full swing now, lots of sunspots.
Click for today's look.

New Moon: Mar. 18, First Quarter: Mar. 25
Full Moon: Apr. 1, Last Quarter: Apr. 10.
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Planets:

Jupiter and Neptune are visible early night.

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News

1. We now have found the third interstellar comet, 3I/ATLAS.
2. Saturn has 128 new moons discovered, raising the total to 247.
3. The second closest star (system)to us, Barnard's star, has four planets.
4. New models of the NASA's DART impact reshaping the asteroid moon Dimorphos show that this object is 'rubble all the way down'.

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Unusual events and objects

(Students might want to ask help in how to use the coordinates, ephemerids and finder charts.)

Observable comets and more resources.
A link to the Minor Planet Center.
Pictures taken at Oxford. Click here for more.
Click here for:
The presentations used in class, the class syllabus.
Click for the grades.
Information on tests, the lab pages, the instructor's home page.

The department's home page. Look at these fancy magazines, the Sky and Telescope and Astronomy.

Click here for an animation of the current weather. (You need Java installed on your computer to see this.) An astronomical weather forecast for Oxford, MS:
(If this is out of date, double-click on it!)

Last updated:March 19, 2026 by T. Torma.