Astro 1 is an introductory course in astronomy aimed at non-science students. The dual goals of the course are to present the fundamentals of astronomy in a conceptual rather than mathematical framework and to illustrate how science is conducted using astronomy as a specific case.

The textbook for this course is Astronomy, A Beginner's Guide to the Universe, by E. Chaisson and S. McMillan (5th edition), available at the Penn State bookstore. Reading assignments will be posted at least two days before the material is covered in class.

This course is on ANGEL (http://cms.psu.edu). In order to use the online materials you will need a Penn State Access account.

20% In-class activities: short interactive group activities that will help you better understand the lecture topic. These are due in class and can only be done in class. They will be graded either 10 (excellent), 9 (good), 8 (satisfactory), or 0 (unexcused absent or not attempted).

20% Weekly homework: online multiple-choice quizzes that will be posted Monday and must be completed before class Friday. You may consult your book or notes or work with friends. I will call on random students to explain their answers in class Friday. Your lowest homework score will be dropped. Some questions may appear again on exams.

30% Midterm exam: there will be one midterm covering the first half of the course, held in class on Monday July 21. This and the final are individual tests for which no books or notes are allowed.

30% Final exam: the final will cover the whole course but will emphasize material from the second half. It will be challenging. You will be informed in class as soon as the time and location of the final are determined by the University Registrar.
Note that exams cannot be made up unless missed due to serious medical or family emergency or university business.

Time permitting, the following topics will be covered in class:

• Foundations
  • The Copernican revolution: orbits, Kepler's and Newton's laws.
  • Light and matter: physical principles of modern astrophysics.
  • The tools of the trade: spacecraft, telescopes, and detectors.
• The Solar System
  • Terrestrial and Jovian planets.
  • Moons and planetary rings.
  • Formation and history of the Solar System.
  • Extrasolar planets
• Stars
  • Our star: the Sun.
  • Properties and structure of stars, HR diagram.
  • Star formation and the interstellar medium.
  • Stellar evolution and death.
  • The stellar graveyard: white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes.
• Galaxies
  • Our galaxy: the Milky Way.
  • Normal galaxies: spirals and ellipticals.
  • Not-so-normal galaxies: starburst galaxies, active galaxies, and quasars.
• The Universe
  • The Universe as we see it today: cosmic expansion.
  • Formation of the universe: the "Big Bang", nucleosynthesis, galaxy formation.
  • The fate of the Universe.
• Life In the Universe

Students in this course are expected to abide by the academic code of conduct of the university, the college of science, and the department of astronomy and astrophysics. These are detailed at:

• http://www.psu.edu/ufs/policies/47-00.html#49-20
• http://www.science.psu.edu/academic/Integrity/Policy.htm
• http://www.astro.psu.edu/deptinfo/integrity.html