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SYLLABUS
COURSE INFORMATION FOR ASTRONOMY 101
INSTRUCTOR : SINA SADJADI. Email
ssadjadi@san.rr.com
Tel 619-388-5299
TEXTBOOK : Perspectives on Astronomy, Seeds, Backman (1st
Edition, Only edition)
COURSE TITLE :
DESCRIPTIVE
ASTRONOMY.
Course Description :
An Introductory survey course to develop an
appreciation of contemporary astronomy. Topics include the solar system,
stars and stellar evolution, the milky way galaxy, and cosmology.
Class Hours Per Week :
You need to study a few hours per day to stay up with
this class.
Prerequisite Advisory:
None.
The Goal of The Course :
The goal of this course is to give the Liberal Arts
and Science students a clear and descriptive introduction to Astronomy
using simple mathematics. I do want you to enjoy astronomy.
Attendance Requirements
:
Responsibility
to Add, Drop or Withdraw.
It is the
Students responsibility to drop all classes in which he/she is no longer
attending. Absence in an On Line course means lack of work on the Quizzes
and Exams in a timely fashion. Withdraw after the deadline will not be
approved without proof of circumstances beyond the students
control which made him/her unable to meet the deadline. It is the instructor’s
discretion to withdraw a student after the add/drop deadline
due to excessive absences.
Students who remain enrolled in a class beyond
the published withdrawal deadline, as stated in the class schedule, will
receive an evaluative letter grade in this class.
DISCIPLINE
REQUIREMENTS :
The students are expected to schedule their time to study the book. This is harder than it
may seem at first. This class will
be conducted in accordance to the college student code of conduct and basic
standards of academic honesty.
WRITING AND
STUDY ASSIGNMENTS :
There are 14 Quizzes that need to be done as soon as
you finish a chapter. You have 4 days to get each Quiz done after it has
been assigned. Please try to look at the answers to the quizzes 5 days
after they are assigned.
THE METHOD OF
EVALUATING PROGRESS, AND ACHIEVEMENT OF, COURSE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES :
The students progress towards the achievement of
course goals and objectives are evaluated from the exams and the Quizzes.
THE METHOD BY WHICH
THE FINAL GRADE IS DETERMINED :
The final grade is determined in the following manner
;
There will be 4 exams given during the intersession.
Each exam is 14.5 % of the final grade.
There are 14 Quizzes given during the intersession.
Each Quiz is 3% of the final grade.
SCHEDULE and LEARNING OBJECTIVES :
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Part1:
JAN. 5:
Chapter1:
Build
your Foundation, Introduction to Astronomy.
Learning
Objectives:
1-
The structure of universe from the very small to the very large.
2-
What the goal of science is.
3-
How science depends on Theoretical and observational work.
4-
About the angular measurements.
5-
The metric system.
6-
How to express large numbers.
7-
The scale of the universe.
QUIZ 1
JAN 6 and 7:
Chapter 2:
Learning
Objectives:
1-
The Stars.
2-
The constellations.
3-
The Names of the Stars.
4-
The Brightness of the stars. (Stellar Magnitudes)
5-
The celestial sphere. (The apparent shape of the sky.)
6-
The motions of the Earth.
7-
The Cycle of the Sun.
8-
The Annual Motion of the Sun.
9-
The seasons.
10-
The phases of the Moon.
11-
The eclipses. (Solar and Lunar)
QUIZ 2
JAN. 8 and 9:
Chapter 3:
Learning
Objectives:
1- Aristotles
Universe.
2- The ancient
Universe. (see page 36 and 37)
3- PTOLEMY and his geocentric model of the universe.
4- COPERNICUS and his heliocentric model of the universe.
5- Tycho
Brahe and his work.
6- Kepler
and his work.
7- The work of
Galileo.
8- Newton and his work.
QUIZ 3
JAN. 9:
Chapter 4:
Learning
Objectives:
1-
Radiation: Information from space.
2-
The electromagnetic spectrum.
3-
Two Kinds of Telescopes.
4-
Important parameters of telescopes.
4-
Observatories on Earth. (Modern Astronomical Telescopes)
5-
Astronomical Instruments and Techniques.
6-
Properties of the telescopes.
7-
Airborne and Space Observatories.
8-
The Ends of the Visual Spectrum.
10-
Space Telescopes.
QUIZ 4
JAN 10 and 11
Review first four chapters for EXAM1.
JAN. 12:
EXAM 1.
Part 2:
JAN 13 and 14:
Chapter 5:
Learning Objectives:
1-
The Sun- Closest star.
1-
The origin of Sunlight.
2-
Atoms and Subatomic Particles.
3-
Temperature, Heat and Blackbody Radiation.
4-
The Sun’s Surface.
5-
The Photosphere.
6-
The Heat Flow in the Sun.
7-
Light, Matter and Motion.
8-
The Electron Shells.
9-
The Excitation of Atoms.
10-
The Doppler effect.
11-
The Sun’s Atmosphere.
12-
The Formation of the spectra. (The Atomic Spectra)
13-
The Sun’s Chemical Composition.
14-
The Chromoshere.
15-
The Corona.
16-
Observing the Sun.
17-
Sunspots and Sunspot Cycles.
QUIZ 5
JAN. 15:
Chapter 6:
Learning Objectives:
1- Star Distances.
2- Star Apparent Brightness, Intrinsic Brightness,
and Luminosity.
3-
Brightness and Distance.
4- Spectral Lines and Temperature.
5-
Stellar Classification. (The H-R Diagram)
6-
Luminosity, Temperature and Diameter.
7- Binary Stars in General
8-
Surveying the Stars.
QUIZ 6
JAN. 16:
Chapter 7:
Learning Objectives:
1- The Laws of Conservation of Mass and Energy.
2- Hydrostatic Equilibrium
3- Energy Transport
4- Nuclear Fusion in the Sun and Stars.
5- Neutrinos from the
Sun’s Core
6- The Pressure-Temperature Thermostat
7- Main-Sequence Stars
8- The Life of a Main Sequence Star
9- The Birth of Stars
10- Three Kinds of Nebula.
11- The Formation of Stars from the Interstellar
Medium.
12- The Orion Nebula.
QUIZ 7
JAN 17:
Chapter 8 :
Learning
Objectives:
1- Giant Stars.
2- Expansion into a Giant.
3- Helium Fusion.
4- Star Clusters and Evolution of the Stars.
5- The Deaths of Lower Main Sequence Stars.
6- Red Dwarfs.
7- Medium-Mass (Sunlike)
Stars.
8- Planetary Nebulae.
9- White Dwarfs.
10- The Fate of the Sun and the End of Earth.
11- Mass Transfer between Stars and Novae.
12- The Deaths of Massive Stars.
13- Nuclear Fusion in Massive Stars.
14- Supernova Explosions of Massive Stars.
15- Types of Supernovae.
16- Observations of Supernovae.
17- Neutron Stars (Pulsars?).
18- The Discovery of Pulsars.
19- Black Holes.
20- The Search for Black Holes.
21- Gamma Ray Bursts.
QUIZ 8
JAN 18 and 19
Review chapters 5, 6 and 8 for EXAM2.
JAN 20:
EXAM 2.
Part 3:
JAN 21:
Chapter 9:
Learning Objectives:
1- The Discovery of the Galaxy.
2- The Size of the Milky Way.
3- Star Clusters and the Center of the Galaxy.
4- The Mass of the Galaxy
5- Tracing the Spiral Arms
6- The Origin and History of the Milky Way.
7- The Age of the Milky Way
8- Stellar Populations
9- The Center of the Galaxy (Sagittarius A)
QUIZ 9
JAN 22:
Chapter 10:
Learning Objectives:
1-
The Hubble classification.
2-
The galaxies on the Hubble diagram.
3- Galaxy Distances.
4- Telescopes as Time Machines.
5- The Hubble Law.
6- Galaxy Diameters, Luminosities and Masses.
7- Dark Matter in Galaxies.
8- Supermassive Black
Holes in Galaxies.
9- The Evolution of Galaxies.
10- Clusters of Galaxies.
11- Colliding Galaxies.
12- The Origin and Evolution of Galaxies.
13- Active Galaxies and Quasars.
14-
The active galaxies.
15-
The distribution of galaxies in space.
16-
The supercluster of galaxies.
17-
The colliding galaxies.
QUIZ 10
JAN 23:
Chapter
11:
Learning
Objectives:
1- Introduction to the Universe.
2- The Edge-Center Problem.
3- The Necessity of a Beginning.
4- Cosmic Expansion.
5- The Big Bang Theory.
6- Evidence for the Big Bang- The Cosmic Microwave
Background.
7- Particles and Nucleosynthesis
-- The First Seconds and Minutes.
8- Recombination and Reionization
-- The First Thousands and Millions of Years.
9- Looking at the Universe-The Cosmic Redshift.
10- Model Universes.
11- Dark Matter in Cosmology.
12- Inflation.
13- The Acceleration of the Universe.
14- Dark Energy and Acceleration.
15- The Fate of the Universe.
16 The Curvature of Space-Time.
17-
The theories of the origin of the universe.
18-
The cosmic background radiation.
19-
The fate of the universe.
20-
Dark matter and Dark energy.
QUIZ 11
JAN 24 and 25
Review chapters 9,10
and 11 for EXAM3.
JAN 26:
EXAM 3.
Part 4:
JAN 27:
Chapter 12:
Learning
Objectives:
1- The History of the Atoms in Your Body
2- The Origin of the Solar System
3- Revolution and Rotation of the Planets.
4- Two Kinds of Planets-Terrestrial and Jovian Planets.
5- Asteroids and Comets.
6- Meteoroids, Meteors, Meteorites.
7- The Story of Planet Formation.
8- The Age of the Solar System.
9- Formation of Planetesimals
and Protoplanets.
10- The Jovian Problem
11- Extrasolar Planets
QUIZ 12
JAN 28:
Chapter 13:
Learning Objectives:
1-
Terrestrial Planets.
2- Core, Mantle, Crust and Atmospheres.
3- Earth: The Active Planet.
4- Oxygen in Earth’s Atmosphere.
5- A Short Geological History of Earth.
6- The Moon.
7- Lunar Geology.
8- The Origin of Earth’s Moon.
9- Mercury.
10- Spacecraft at Mercury and History of Mercury.
11- Venus.
12- The Atmosphere, Surface and The History of
Venus.
13- Mars.
14- The Atmosphere, and Surface
of Mars.
15- Searching for Water on Mars.
16- The Moons of Mars.
QUIZ 13
JAN 29:
Chapter 14 :
1- A Travel Guide to the Outer Planets
2- The Outer Planets, Their Atmospheres and
Interiors.
3- Satellite Systems of the Jovian Planets.
4- Jupiter.
5- The Interior, Atmosphere, Ring and Moons of
Jupiter.
6- Saturn.
7- The Ice Rings of Saturn.
8- The Moons of Saturn
9- Uranus.
10- The Uranian Moons
and Rings.
11- Neptune.
12- The Neptunian Moons and Rings.
13- Pluto: Planet No More
14- What Defines a Planet?
15- Pluto and the Plutinos
QUIZ 14
JAN 31:
EXAM 4.
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