Descriptive Astronomy - Schedule of class

Astr 2100 Descriptive Astronomy
Class Schedule - Spring 2008

Introduction

The following topics are planned for the class dates during this semester. This page will be updated as the semester progresses, or if topics have to be changed to match the rate at which we progress from week to week. Chapter numbers are taken from the text "Perspectives on Astronomy" by Michael A Seeds and Dana E Backman (Thomson).

PDF Files

Some of the help topics listed blow are in PDF format. To view these files you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. This is a free program, available from the Adobe web site.

Class schedule

February
Date	Topic	Chapter	Notes
14^th	Intro & GE Objects of the Universe	1	Goals of the GE program Some pictures of different objects which can be found in the universe What constitutes a planet?
19^th	Scale of the Universe	1	Scientific notation Definitions of Astronomical Unit (page 5), Light year (page 6) Conversion to familiar units (miles) Trip times
21^st	Scale of the Universe	1	Scientific notation Definitions of Astronomical Unit (page 5), Light year (page 6) Conversion to familiar units (miles) Lecture notes for today - Trip times
26^th	Observational Astronomy	2	Coordinate systems Motion of heavenly objects across the sky Apparent motion versus distance Motion of the Sun, the Moon, the planets, and the stars
March
Date	Topic	Chapter	Notes
4^th	The Sun in the sky Leap years Seasons	2 section 3	Motion of the Sun
6^th	The Constellations	2 section 1	The Constellations Table of Constellations The Constellations
11^th	The Moon, phases and eclipses	2 section 4 3	Motion of the Moon
13th	The planets	3	Kepler's Laws Universal Law of Gravitation
20th	The planets	3	Kepler's Laws Universal Law of Gravitation
April
Date	Topic	Chapter	Notes
3^rd	Relative Magnitude Scale	2 section 1	Absolute Magnitude, Relative Magnitude, and Distance
8^th	Relative Magnitude Scale Distance - magnitude equation	-	Absolute Magnitude, Relative Magnitude, and Distance
10^th	Light, Colour, Composition & Temperature	6 section 3	see also Chapter 5 section 2
15^th	Measurement of distance	6 section 1	Stellar parallax - definition of parsec
17th	Measurement of distance		Spectroscopic Parallax - Sample Questions Cepheid Variable as Distance Markers - Sample Questions
22nd	Stellar velocities Stellar masses	6 section 5	Proper Motion - Barnard's Star Proper Motion - Constellation Simulation Red shift and stellar speeds Stellar Masses
May
Date	Topic	Chapter	Notes
1^st	Nuclear Fusion in the Sun	7 section 2	How the Sun Works The Physics behind Nuclear Fusion Nuclear fusion from Wikipedia Basic Fusion
6^th	2nd Midterm
8^th	Protostars	7 section 4	Protostars and Nebulae Some nebulae pictures
13^th	Deaths of stars	8	Lecture notes More Information on Fusion Fusion Reactions - the table half way down the document shows the reaction scheme from H to Fe Fusion of Helium Fusion of Carbon and Oxygen

Astr 2100 Descriptive Astronomy Class Schedule - Spring 2008

Introduction

PDF Files

Class schedule

Astr 2100 Descriptive Astronomy
Class Schedule - Spring 2008