Introductory Astronomy and Astrophysics

Spring 1999 Class Schedule

This is the schedule of classes we will follow, including details of the studio labs and homework assignments. It should more or less follow the syllabus, but whatever is posted here is the official version. This page will be updated from time to time, so don't print out some of the class materials too far in advance.

Tuesdays are lecture days. I will use the textbook as a reference, but I won't generally be following it in order. I give the general location of the material I'll discuss below, but the syllabus should have more detail.

Thursdays are studio days. Special material needed for that class is posted here. Please take a look at it before you come to class! In most cases, it will make it much easier for you to get through the studio if you've looked over the material ahead of time. If you like, you can work in pairs and hand in one piece of work at the end of class, and share the grade.

Homework is due at the start of class the following week, usually the Tuesday. Late homework is accepted only if you see me ahead of time and explain why. You are encouraged to work together with your classmates, but everyone must hand in their own assignment.

Week One: Gravity and Orbital Motion

• Tuesday, January 12. The main point to get across here is the idea of circular orbits about a single, massive object. That is, like planets about the Sun, or moons about their planets. I also want to talk about elliptical orbits and make some general remarks about gravitation. See chapters P1, P2, P5, and P7 in the Prelude, as well as section 2A in Chapter 1.
• Thursday, January 14. We will do the CLEA exercise on observing the moons of Jupiter, and use the data to calculate the mass of the planet. Get a copy of the student manual. If we are lucky, the skies will be clear and Jupiter itself will be high enough in the sky and we can see the real thing, if you are interested.
• Homework, due Tuesday, January 19: Work through the following exercise on the mass of the Sun. Also, work the following exercises from the textbook: 2.3 (Problem 3 in Chapter 2.)

Week Two: The Solar System

• Tuesday, January 19. We will use this class to take a tour of our Solar System. We can use the stuff we've already done with gravity to understand things like atmospheres and the formation of rings. We'll be taking pieces out of Chapters 2, 5, 6, and 7. Tidal forces are discussed in Chapter 3, section 4D.
• Thursday, January 21. Your job is to build a scale model of the solar system, and use it to investigate scales in the galaxy and beyond. You need to work on this before you come to class! There is a worksheet to fill out, which can be done in lab. You might want to work on this with a few people. You can use this campus map for scale. For fun, check out the website that one student made for this last time we taught the course.
• Homework, due Tuesday, January 26: 2.8, 2.23, 5.8, 6.6

Week Three: Light and the Electromagnetic Spectrum

• Tuesday, January 26. Astronomy is a very visual science, and it is important to understand what we mean by "see". All of this material is covered in Chapter 8 of the textbook. In the latter part of class, we will use some simple spectrographs to study line spectra in various gases.
• Thursday, January 28. We will study the blackbody spectrum using a Java applet developed at the University of Oregon. There is no worksheet to fill out, but you have a few things to work out on paper and hand in.
• Homework, due Tuesday, February 2: 8.3, 8.5, 8.11

Week Four: Telescopes

• Tuesday, February 2. Telescopes are the primary instrument in Astronomy, and we'll learn about them today. This includes telescopes other than the optical kind. We'll also learn about how images and other data can be recorded. All this is in Chapter 9 of the textbook.
• Thursday, February 4. Using some kits, you will assemble a telescope yourself and study how it works. Follow the instructions. You can keep the telescope!
• Homework, due Tuesday, February 9: 9.1, 9.3, 9.8, 9.10

Week Five: Stars from the Outside

• Tuesday, February 9. By looking at the intensity of light from stars, and from the "color" and spectral lines, we can learn a lot about them. We'll study these concepts today, and look at how the distance is known to nearby stars. Some material from Chapter 8 on "flux", but most of this is from Chapters 11 and 13.
• Thursday, February 11. We'll work through the CLEA exercise on Stellar Spectra. Get the student manual.
• Homework, due Thursday, February 18: 11.2, 11.8, 11.11, 11.18

Week 5A. There is no class on Tuesday, Feb.16, so there will be no lecture this week. On Thursday, Feb. 18, however, we will continue to study stars, and look at the Pleiades cluster using the CLEA exercise on photometry of stars and HR diagrams. Get the student manual.

• Homework, due Tuesday, February 23: 13.2, 13.13, 13.14, 13.16

Week Six: Binary star systems

• Tuesday, February 23. About half of all the stars in the sky are in binary systems, and they provide us with lots of information on the makeup of the stars themselves. We'll see why and how. One thing we will learn about is the discovery of planets around other stars. Most of this stuff is in Chapter 12, but also see section P1-8 of the Prelude, and also section 18-6.
• Thursday, February 25. CUPS exercise on binary stars.
• Homework, due Tuesday, March 2: 12.3, 12.6, 12.7

Exam time. There will be a test on the material up to this point on Wednesday eveing, March 3. See the exam page for details.

Week Seven: Stars from the Inside

• Tuesday, March 2. Now we'll take a look at the inside of stars, and how they actually make their light. Mostly Chapter 16, but see also Prelude chapter P5, sections 7, 8, and 9.
• Thursday, March 4. CUPS exercise on stellar interiors.
• Homework, due Tuesday, March 16: 16.1, 16.8, 16.10

SPRING BREAK

Week Eight: Star Deaths

• Tuesday, March 16. Stars die in different ways, and they leave different things around. Almost all the time, though, they leave something very small and dense, like white dwarfs, neutron stars, or black holes. See Chapter 17, sections 5 and 6 of Chapter 18, and Prelude section 5-3.
• Thursday, March 18. CLEA exercise on the radio astronomy of pulsars. Get the student manual.
• Homework, due Tuesday, March 23: 17.5, 17.6, 17.13, 18.14 Note that the RHS of Eq.18-4 should have P not P².

Week Nine: Measuring distances, including Variable Stars

• Tuesday, March 23. We will review the way distances are measured in astronomy, and point out the very useful long-distance indicators in variable stars. This is a smattering of stuff from chapters 11, 13, 18, and 19.
• Thursday, March 25. Cepheid variable stars and the distances to the LMC and to M81.
• Homework, due Tuesday, March 30: 18.3, 18.4, 18.5, 19.4

Week Ten: Galaxies and the Hubble Expansion

• Tuesday, March 30. The properties of our galaxy, and what other galaxies look like, and how they are all flying away from each other and what that means. Stuff from Chapters 14, 20, 21, and 22.
• Thursday, April 1. We will study Hubble's Law using the Hubble's Law exercise from the University of Washington. Use the instructions and dat as posted on that web site, but use this version of the worksheet. I've also copied over the wavelength table for you (also in pdf format). It would be a good idea to start this lab before you arrive!
• Homework, due Tuesday, April 6: 14.13, 20.3, 20.13, 22.5

Week Eleven: SPACE WEEK

This is not only GM Week, but also "Space Week". There will be no class, but you are to attend as much of the Space Week activities as you can. The Space Week Web Page can tell you all about what's going on. Details are here.

Week Twelve: Active Galaxies and Quasars

• Tuesday, April 13. Galaxies with super-massive black holes in the center give us a peek to the very early universe. We'll learn all about these things in this class. Mostly all in Chapter 24.
• Thursday, April 15. We will study the Center of M87 using Hubble data.
• Homework, due Tuesday, April 20: 24.8, 24.10, 24.12

Week Thirteen: Cosmology

• Tuesday, April 20. We'll study how the universe began, and what we can learn from the remnants left around today. See Chapters 23, 25, and 26.
• Thursday, April 22. CLEA exercise on the Large Scale Structure of the Universe. Get the student manual.
• Homework, due Tuesday, April 27: 25.4, 25.7, 26.3

Tuesday, April 27. Last class. This will be a review for the final exam.