THE
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY
ASTRONOMY 1010- SURVEY OF ASTRONOMY
Section 001
Fall Semester- 2005
Class Hours: T
R 9:30- 10:45 am
Place: MH 1005
Instructor:
Office & Office Hours: MH 4004
T R
Telephone:
419-530-3145 (voice mail)
E-Mail: JPALMER 4@ UTNET.UTOLEDO.EDU
Textbook: The Essential Cosmic
Perspective,3rd Edition (Bennett et al.)
Website for
text: www.astronomyplace.com
General Advice and Things to
Remember
1. This course has no prerequisites, which means there
is not much math used. What math we do use will be explained as needed. It is
assumed that you have had high school algebra and geometry.
2. Follow along and keep up with the chapter
readings as outlined in the syllabus. I follow the book closely by topic and
content to help you but I will not cover everything in the text. Sometimes I
will provide material that is not in the text. You will be responsible for
assigned material and material covered in class.
3. Come to class & participate by asking questions,
especially if I have not made a point clear. E-mail me questions if you wish.
Sometimes the most basic things are the most difficult to learn and understand
and sometimes these are also the most difficult for the instructor to know if
you have made the necessary connections in understanding. The “How to Succeed
in Your Astronomy Course” section in your text is important to read and follow.
A graduate student- TA- is assigned to class and will be available to help you
when possible and to the degree appropriate. I will show a number of videos
(~20% of class time) to help you get an integrated story of astronomy with
historical perspective and to help you see modeling that stills cannot provide.
These videos are excellent for showing instrumentation used by astronomers and
also the astronomers themselves who are making the astounding discoveries.
Astronomy is clearly seen as a human endeavor in the videos!
4. The Science channel, Discovery channel, etc. often have
excellent programs in Astronomy. Only one extra-credit report can be
done and is valued for up to 6 points bonus and will be added to your highest
mid-term score. The report should be on
one page (200-450 words) and contain several paragraphs on content and at least
one paragraph on your reaction. Be sure to include your source. Scientific
American has an astronomy article every issue; a report can be done on the
article and would need to follow the stated paper format. Sky and Telescope
is another appropriate source. The report must be turned in by
5. Bring several #2 pencils to the exams. See schedule
for exam dates. If you have a problem with an exam date see me well in advance,
so we can arrange something else. If you need a special test environment you
need to let me know in advance; all such testing would be done at the
University’s test center.
6.1 There will be three, 50- minute exams (mid-terms) most
likely consisting of 25-50 multiple choice questions given on the dates
listed in the syllabus. Some times a short essay/response will be required on a
mid-term exam. It is possible that the
University could close because of weather; a scheduled exam would then be moved
to the next class meeting. There will be no make-up exams given. Only
two mid-term exams will be counted in the calculation of the final grade, and
if three exams are presented then the lowest grade will be dropped. Each
mid-term exam will count 30% of your course grade.
6.2 Ten (10%) of your grade is based on successfully
completing the following list of activities: two planetarium visits ( one of
which is during class and the second on one of the Friday evening
presentations) and one observing session. The in-class planetarium experience
is a 55-minute show on positions/locations , motions, and eclipses.
The second
planetarium ticket will be for a regularly- scheduled, Friday evening,
planetarium show. You must attend a planetarium show in the month stamped on your
ticket if tickets are available. Do not wait until the last day because the
general public has first priority on limited (90) seating. Assignments on
planetarium shows are due one week after show.
A third
ticket is for an evening of observing at the Brooks Observatory on the roof of
McMaster Hall. Take the elevator to the 5th floor, and then take the
south stairs to the 6th floor; access to the roof is from there.
Students needing wheelchair access to the roof can be accommodated. Observing
sessions are scheduled for specific dates. The observatory will be open shortly
after sunset for a minimum of 90 minutes. Only two of the three activities will
be needed to get the 10%; if three activities are done the third will be
counted as a maximum of 5% bonus on your highest midterm. Each of these three
activities requires a report as outlined in item #4 above.
7. The final exam is comprehensive and probably
will consist of 50-100 multiple choice questions. It will count for 30% of your
course grade. It is scheduled in MH 1005
(this room). The official schedule of classes for date/day/starting time of the
final exam for this section is WEDNESDAY
8. Grading scale:
The approximate grading scale for all testing is as follows:
90-100
% = A ( A
& A- )
80- 89
% = B (
B-, B, & B+ )
70- 79
% = C (
C-, C, & C+ )
60- 69
% = D (
D-, D, & D+ )
less than 60%
= F
These cutoffs may be curved down slightly if necessary.
Any curving will be done on the final grade, so the above percentages should be
used to estimate your intermediate grade.
Plus and minus posting is for percentages close to (3%) on either side
of 90, 80, etc. as appropriate. For example 88.6% =B+, and 92.5%=A-.
9. Policy on IW Grade: University policies will be
adhered to in all cases. I seldom give IW’s and expect students to make their
decision in a timely fashion so they can withdraw (add/drop) on their own.
10. You are responsible for any changes in the
syllabus that are presented in class.
11. Exams will be given on the dates specified even if
the class lags behind the intended schedule, but the material covered by each
test will be according to what topics have actually been “covered” in class and
will be correlated to corresponding text information/readings. As previously
stated, if the University closes on a scheduled exam day, the exam will be
given the next available class meeting.
12. If you take the first test, quit the course, but
then fail to withdraw officially, then you will receive an F. If you do not
take the first test and fail to notify me by email that you are still in the
course and that your intent is to “drop” the first mid-term since it is a
“zero”, you may inadvertently get an IW.
You are responsible for withdrawing and following the university
calendar as published on the UT website. The instructor seldom gives IWs; one
of the necessary conditions for receiving an IW is an Email with the
student’s name, ID#, date, course and section along with a clear statement
requesting an IW. If you are going to miss an exam, please send a timely
email to the instructor explaining why.
13. I am well aware that the course is 3 credit- hours
and not 4 credit- hours.
14. Study together. Compare class notes. Notes from
class should be more than just the instructor’s outline that is
displayed. Prepare for class. Individualize your notes; they should be good
enough that you can fill in the rest of what was presented in class. Ask
each other what is important. See your instructor!
15. A few web sites:
SKY ROUTER: www.iol.ie/~pkcurran
Hubble Space Telescope: www.stsci.edu
Sky & Telescope Weekly News: www.skypub.com/news/news.html
Astronomy picture of the day: www.
antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
Syllabus: Astronomy 1010: Survey of
Astronomy
(to be
updated throughout the semester)
Prof. Jim Palmer
Fall Semester 2005
DATE
Assigned
Video: Cosmic Voyage (36 min) Scale and sizes
1 Sept
2005 Sect 3.1 &
3.2 Planetarium Sessions
6 Sept
2005 Sect 3.3 &3.4 Review; Phases of the moon,
eclipses
Video: Celestial wonders: Eclipses, etc.
(6min)
Video: The Blue Planet and Pale Moon Above
(20min)
8
Sept 2005 Sect 4.1&4.2 Orbital motion of planets;
Retrograde motion.
Eratosthenes. Models of the “universe” and
solar
system (Ptolemaic and Copernican)
Video: The Expanding Universe ( first 18min)
Video: From
13 Sept 2005
Sect 4.3&4.4
Kepler, Kepler’s Laws, and Galileo and free fall
experiments
Video:
Galileo: 50 minutes.
15
Sept 2005
Forces, acceleration, linear and angular momentum,
conservation laws, kinetic and potential energy;
radiative energy, thermal energy, and
gravitational
potential energy. Orbital energy , and
escape
Demo: angular momentum
Videos:____________________________________
22
Sept 2005 Video: If We Had No Moon
(52min)______________
27 Sept 2005
Ch 5
Midterm Exam #1
29 Sept 2005
Ch 5:Sect 6.1&6.2 Light
&Matter, atomic structure and spectra,
__________________________________ Doppler Effect __________________________
4
Oct 2005 Sect6.3-6.5
Telescopes : How they work .A brief tour of Solar
The Solar System .Birth of the
Solar System
Video: Home Star( 20 min)
6 Oct
2005 Ch 7 Earth processes;
greenhouse effect
Video:Blue
Planet (42 min)__________________
11 Oct
2005 Ch7 & Ch8 Venus and Mars
Video: Venus and Mars: Earth’s Sisters(20
min)
13 Oct
2005 Ch 8 & Ch 9 Jupiter and Saturn; Uranus and
Neptune
Video: Jupiter and Saturn (20 min)
Video: Uranus, Neptune… (20min) _____
20 Oct 2005
Asteroids, Comets, and Pluto
Video: Impact: Comets and Asteroids (20
min)
Video: Beyond the Millenium :Planets (50
min)
27 Oct 2005 Ch10 Midterm Exam#2
1 Nov
2005 Ch10 Our Star
Video: Solar Max (38 min)
Video: Savage Sun (50 min)______________
3 Nov 2005 Ch 10 & Ch11 Sunspot cycles, solar structure,
nuclear fusion,
parallax, properties of stars
Video: Beyond the Millenium: Stars (50
min)
Video: Stellar Evolution (45 min)
Video:
Black Holes, Dark Matter (11 min)
22 Nov
2005 Ch 14 Midterm Exam
#3________________
29 Nov 2005 Ch 15 &16 Video:Beyond the Millenium:
Creation (50 min)
Video: The Unfolding Universe (52
min)
1 Dec
2005 Ch17 &
Ch18 The Expanding Universe
and Galaxy Evolution
Video :The Expanding Universe (36 min)
Video: From Big Bang to Big Crunch?( 20
min)
6 Dec
2005 Ch 18 Evolution of Life on
Earth
Search for Extraterrestrial
Intelligence
Video: Spaceship Earth…Life (20 min)
Video: Hyperspace: Life (50 min)
8 Dec
2005
Video: Hyperspace: Survival (50
REVIEW FOR FINAL__
FINALS WEEK!!!!!!
FINAL
Wed.