Syllabus: ASTR 1050: Survey of Astronomy, Fall 2014
Instructor: Michael Brotherton
Office: 217 Physical Sciences
Text/cell:307-399-9524 (for emergencies, otherwise use email)
E-mail: (best way to contact me)
Course Website: materials!)
Office Hours:M 3-4PM, W 2-3 PM, F 3-4 PM, or by appointment
Lectures/Discussion:MWF 11:00AM to 11:50,CR 306
Additional required materials (texts, online):
- MasteringAstronomy --Standalone Access Card–for The Essential Cosmic Perspective, 6/E, ISBN: 0321724291. DO NOT ORDER THE BOOK, ONLY MASTERING ASTRONOMY!
The course is BROTHERTONFALL2014 on the website, zip code is 82071
- Prather, Lecture- Tutorials for Introductory Astronomy, 3/E, ISBN: 0321820460
- Johnson, Free Downloadable .pdf Textavailable on course website
Course Content
Astronomy is the study of everything beyond the Earth, the entire universe in fact! Topics will include the sky, planets, stars, galaxies, and more. We won't just take census of the amazing things in the universe; understanding how we know what we know is also important. Science is the most powerful method of deriving new knowledge ever developed, and understanding science is key to understanding our increasingly complex, technologically driven civilization. Science often relies on math, and astronomy is no exception, although it won’t be excessive. I sincerely hope you all complete the course with a deeper sense of wonder about the universe and an appreciation for the science that has revealed that wonder.
Class Meetings
Attendance is strongly encouraged, but not mandatory. Generally speaking, we will have traditional lecture on Mondays and Wednesdays. We will typically be more interactive on Fridays, with group activities and discussion, often following the Lecture Tutorials book, which you should bring to class.
It’s smart to do the assigned reading before class -- this will make lecture easier to follow and lead to better questions. The lectures will not necessarily cover all the topics in the reading, will sometimes take a different approach from the reading, and should not be viewed as a substitute for the reading. Lecture slides can be found on the course webpage. Lectures are an opportunity to address more challenging concepts and to explore material beyond the text from a different perspective. Please bring questions to class and be prepared to discuss concepts, particularly on Fridays. It will be good to bring a calculator as well.
Laboratory
Attendance at lab is not optional.Coty, Cody, and Will are your dedicated lab instructors and will have their own lab syllabus. Lab meets for the first time thesecond week of classes.At least one lab will involve nighttime observing with a telescope and you will be able to sign up for a night of the week that will work for you.Looking through a telescope at objects in the sky is the most memorable highlight of the class for many students. (Note: check with your lab instructors, but if you miss your regular lab you can usually make it up at another time. Also we will drop your lowest two labs from your final grade, but will not do make-up labs.)
Homework
In addition to the reading, weekly homework assignments will be posted on-line on the website. The procedures for self-registration are explained in a document I have available on the course website. Not doing the homework WILL hurt your grade! Register ASAP! (Note: like lab, we will drop your lowest two scores. Everyone is entitled to a bad week. Even two sometimes, but keep in mind that the homework is there to help you learn the material and it is to your benefit to do them all.)
Exams
There will be three exams during the course, two during the semester and one during finals period (the last exam will only cover the final part of the course, not everything). While the exams will not be comprehensive in general, the material in the course does build on itself and several topics reappear in different forms. Each in-class exam will cover several chapters of material and consist of multiple choice questions (bring 5-answer blue bubble sheet and calculator). The exams will be closed-book, but formulas and physical constants will be provided and need not be memorized – but be warned, being given the formulas is not the same as knowing how to apply them. Exam dates will be confirmed in class and the website, but should be the ones scheduled here: Oct. 6, Nov. 21, and during finals week as scheduled by the registrar.
Extra Credit
There will likely be chances for extra credit this semester.These will be announced in class and on the course website and may include things like seeing Planetarium shows.
Grading
The grading scheme will be:
A = 90-100%
B = 80-90%
C = 70-80%
D = 60-70%
F < 60%
I tend to round up, and I reserve the right to adjust the scheme in your favor if the score distributions are lower than expected. People tend to get high scores on the homework and labs, do some extra credit, and wind up with very good grades despite lower exam scores. The components of the course are weighted:
Laboratory= 25%
Exams = 60%
Homework= 15%
Special Accommodations
If you have a physical, learning, or psychological disability and require accommodations, please let me know as soon as possible. You will need to register with, and provide documentation of your disability to, University Disability Support Services (UDSS) in SEO, room 330 Knight Hall, 766-6189, TTY: 766-3073
About Me
I am an observational astronomer specializing in the study of quasars and other types of active galaxies powered by super-massive black holes. I received my PhD from the University of Texas at Austin and have previously worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Kitt Peak National Observatory. I've really used the Very Large Array (the "VLA", a radio telescope in New Mexico featured in the movie Contact), the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and many other telescopes, so I can provide you with first-hand details not found in textbooks. I'm also a science fiction writer with two novels and several short stories professionally published.
I love astronomy and look forward to sharing the wonders of the universe with you!
Course Schedule and Reading Assignments (subject to change)
WeekDatesTopicsReading (Johnson)Lecture Tutorials
1Sep. 3, 5Intro/Scales/Place in the UniverseCh. 1P. 113, Sun size
2Sep. 8, 10, 12Sky, Seasons, Lunar phases Ch. 2 P. 13, Motion
P. 93 seasons
3Sep. 15, 17, 19Finish phases, start historyCh. 2-3P. 81, 85 phases
4Sep. 22, 24, 26Motion, energy, gravityCh. 3-4P. 25 Kepler 3rd
P. 29 Gravity
5Sep. 29, Oct. 1, 3Light and MatterCh. 5, 14P. 47, 59 Light
6Oct. 6, 8Solar System OverviewCh. 6
Oct. 10Exam 1 (through Light & Matter)P. 111 Formation
7Oct. 13, 15, 17Terrestrial PlanetsCh. (7) and 8P. 105 GH Effect
8Oct. 20, 22, 24Outer Planets and “debris”Ch. 9-12
9Oct. 27, 29, 31ExoplanetsCh. 13P. 125 exoplanets
10Nov. 3, 5, 7Sun and starsCh. 14-16P. 117 HR Diag.
11Nov. 10, 12, 14End starsCh. 17-18P. 120 Evol.
12Nov. 17, 19Stellar end states, black holesCh. 19-20P. 133 End States
Nov. 21Exam 2, Planets-Stars (Friday)
13Thanksgiving No class this week
14Dec. 1, 3, 5GalaxiesCh. 21, 22, 24, 25P. 135, 139
15Dec. 8, 10, 12CosmologyCh. 23, 26, 27P. 161, 163
16Finals weekExam 3 on Stellar End States, Black Holes, Galaxies & Cosmology
I may be absent for research-related reasons a few times this semester (e.g., Sep. 12). If so, there will be a substitute lecturer on these days.
There are a lot of special topics and supplemental materials in the textbook and online, that we probably don’t have time to cover in a single semester course. Please feel encouraged to read more if you have the interest.