Astronomy - Spring 1999

Time: Tuesday-Thursday 2:00-3:45
Location: Thimann 1
Instructor: Burt Jones (replacing Joe Miller)
Office: 473A Kerr Hall
Phone: 9-2384
E-mail: jones@ucolick.org

Text: Kaufmann and Comins, Discovering the Universe, available at Bay Tree Book Store

This course will provide a broad overview of our knowledge of the universe. This course is intended for non-science majors. The emphasis will be on the reasoning and evidence behind our current knowledge of and theories about the nature of the Universe. We will begin with a brief description of the naked eye night sky. Next, we will study the nature of gravity. We will then learn about objects in the universe, beginning close at home with objects in the solar system, and then extending outward, first studying stars, then groups of stars, and the large scale structure of the universe. We will end by looking at theories of the origin of the universe.

There will be two lectures per week, and one discussion section. There will be two quizzes, a midterm, and a final. The quizzes will be multiple choice, and the midterm and final will consist of essay questions and problems. There will also be a set of weekly homework problems. The final pass-fail grade will be determined on the basis of 35\% final, 15\% each quiz, 25\% midterm, and 10\% homework.

I will keep two copies of my lecture notes on two hour reserve in the Science Library. In addition, copies of my lecture notes will be available from Slug Books.

I will organize a field trip to Lick Observatory sometime during the quarter. This will provide an opportunity to visit a working observatory and to observe celestial objects through a large telescope.

The following are the topics to be covered:

Introduction and Overview

Observing the Sky

Gravity

The Terrestrial Planets

The Giant Planets

Meteorites, Comets, and Asteroids

Light, Atoms, and Telescopes

The Sun

The Nature of Stars

The Birth, Life, and Death of Stars

Galaxies

Cosmology

Life in the Universe

http://www.ucolick.org/~bolte/AY4/ay4.html

http://www.ucolick.org/~raja/ay5win99.html

Instructor: Dennis Zaritsky

Overview

Astronomy is the most observational of all the physical sciences. In general, we do not have the opportunity to manipulate the object we are studying. If all we have to work with are our observations, how have we managed to learn so much about the universe? The goal of this course is to provide you with some basic, hands-on experience about the process. The course will consist of one classroom lecture each week, where all the students are present, and two observation nights per week, where only half of the class is present each night (i.e. you will be responsible for attending the lecture and one of the two observation sessions per week).

We begin by familiarizing the students with the night sky. Subsequent lab exercises will include work with existing (provided) data and also with data obtained by the student to address a wide range of topics from the determination of the mass of Jupiter to the rate of expansion of the Universe. The observations will be naked-eye and using small telescopes.

Background

No previous astronomy experience is assumed. It will be assumed that the student has mastered elementary algebra, including familiarity with logarithms, trigonometry, and fractional powers. There will be considerable emphasis on the physical processes believed to be operating in our universe and the development of basic physical concepts will be a fundamental part of the course. A background in math (at the 11AB level) or physics (at the 5A level) will make the course easier, but is not required. A strong interest in the course material is the best prerequisite! You should have a small inexpensive calculator at your disposal (one that does powers, roots, trig functions and logarithms).

Evaluation

Performance in this course will be judged on the basis of the laboratory exercises (65% of the final evaluation), in class participation (10% of the final evaluation) and a final exam (which will account for 25% of the final evaluation)

Late lab scores will lose 10% of the available points per day that they are late.

Text Books

No textbooks are required for this course.

Revised 7/29/04.