Astro 10, Spring 2004

Instructor: Dr. Christopher Palma

• 403 Davey Lab
• cpalma@astro.psu.edu
• 863-0733
• Office hours: T 3-5/R 2-3 or by appointment

Class Meetings: MW, 3:35 - 4:25, 121 Sparks

Course information:

• Course Syllabus (pdf format)
• Academic Integrity Policy
• Textbook: Astronomy A Beginner's Guide to the Universe
  • Chaisson, Eric; McMillan, Steve, ASTRONOMY: A Beginner's Guide to the Universe 4th Edition, copyright 2004
  • Figures included in notes below are electronically reproduced by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey
• Websites Related to Course Material

Course Calendar and Reading Assignments:

• 1/12 Course Introduction
  • No Reading
• 1/14 General Overview (Powers of 10, Scientific Method, Constellations)
  • Discovery 1-1 / Appendix 1 & 2 / Prologue P.1
• 1/19 Seasons / Phases of the Moon / Eclipses
  • Prologue P.2 / Chapter 1.1
• 1/21 Gravity and Orbits
  • Chapter 1.4 & 1.5
• 1/26 Electromagnetic Radiation
  • Chapter 2.1, 2.2, & 2.3
• 1/28 Thermal blackbody radiation and spectroscopy
  • Chapter 2.4, 2.5, & 2.6
• 2/2 Telescopes and Quiz topic review - No on-line notes today, since most of class will be for the review
  • Chapter 3 (skim this chapter, we will discuss in class what will be on the quiz from chapter 3)
• 2/4 QUIZ 1 proportionality review
• 2/9 Measuring stellar properties
  • Chapter 2.7 & 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4
• 2/11 Types of stars
  • Chapter 10.5, 10.6, & 10.7
• 2/16 Nebulae and Star Formation
  • Chapter 11.2 & 11.3
• 2/18 Star Clusters / Low-mass stellar evolution
  • Chapter 11.5 & 12.1, 12.2, 12.3
• 2/23 High-mass stellar evolution & star cluster evolution
  • Chapter 12.4, 12.5, 12.6
• 2/25 Stellar remnants and Quiz topic review - No on-line notes today, since most of class will be for the review
  • Chapter 13.1, 13.2, 13.5
• 3/1 QUIZ 2
• 3/3 The Milky Way Galaxy
  • Chapter 14.1, 14.2, 14.3 & 14.4
• 3/15 The Galactic Center & Dark Matter in the Galaxy
  • Chapter 14.6, 14.7
• 3/17 Other Galaxies and the Hubble Classification Scheme
  • Chapter 15.1
• 3/22 Active Galaxies
  • Chapter 15.3, 15.4, & 15.5
• 3/24 Hubble's Law
  • Chapter 15.2, 16.1, & 16.2
• 3/29 Galaxy Environments & Collisions
  • Discovery 15-1, Chapter 16.3, & 16.4
• 3/31 Quiz topic review - No on-line notes today, most of class will be for the review
• 4/5 QUIZ 3
• 4/7 Astrobiology and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
  • Chapter 18
• 4/12 Solar System Overview
  • Chapter 4
• 4/14 Earth/Moon System
  • Chapter 5
• 4/19 Terrestrial planet comparison
  • Chapter 6
• 4/21 Jovian planet comparison
  • Chapter 7
• 4/26 Moons, Rings, and Pluto
  • Chapter 8
• 5/6 FINAL EXAM

Course Announcements:

• All Extra Credit forms are due in class today, 4/26 by the end of class.

• For Extra Credit: Assignment sheets will be handed out in class on 4/14 for the Taylor lecture and on 4/19 for the Sargent lecture. YOU MUST BRING A COPY OF THE ASSIGNMENT SHEET WITH YOU TO THE LECTURE AND HAND PART OF IT IN AT THE END. If you need a copy, the assignment for the Taylor lecture is here and for the Sargent lecture is here.

• For Extra Credit: You must attend EITHER of the two following public lectures:
  • The Eberly Family Distinguished Lecture in Science, Thursday, 4/22 4:00pm in the HUB Auditorium "The Way We Were? Clues to Our Origins from Protoplanetary Disks" by Professor Anneila Sargent (This is the BEST option)
  • The Arthur H. Waynick Memorial Lecture, Friday, 4/16 8:00pm in 104 Keller "Binary Pulsars and Relativistic Gravity" by Professor Joseph Taylor 1993 Nobel Prize winner in Physics (Only attend this talk if you absolutely can't attend the other one)

• Thursday Mar 18: Office hours cancelled. Please email if you have any questions that can't wait until Monday, 3/22.

• The Final Exam Schedule has been announced. Our exam is Thursday, May 6 10:10am - 12:00pm in room 121 Sparks

• Wednesday Feb 18: A copy of the textbook is now on reserve at Pattee Library. It can be checked out at the Pattee Reserves Service Desk.

• Tuesday Feb 17: Office hours cancelled. Please email or call to set up an appointment if you would like to meet with me before Thursday.

• Monday Feb 9: UTS emailed quiz results this morning. If you have a question about your quiz grade, you MUST see me before Feb 23.

• Tuesday Feb 3: All Penn State classes are cancelled. My office hours are cancelled, also. If you have questions, please email me, and if necessary we can arrange a phone appointment to discuss your questions.