Astronomy 111
Introduction to Astronomy

Fall 2009
Tuesday/Thursday 10:30-11:50 am
McConnell 404

Instructor:

James Lowenthal
McConnell Hall, Room 412
Phone: 585-6995
Office Hours: Mon 2:30-3:30 + Wed 2:00 - 3:00 or by appointment

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COURSE OVERVIEW

This course will lead you on the longest, farthest journey possible: across the known Universe, and 14 billion years back in time to the Big Bang.

Astronomy 111 is intended for science majors and others who are comfortable with math, although the strong emphasis of the semester will be on conceptual understanding. (Astronomy 100 is an alternative course for those who are "math-phobic.") We will address two major goals throughout the semester:

• Become familiar with the basic contents of the Universe (Galaxies, Stars, Planets, Gas, Dust, Particles, and Energy) and the processes that govern them; and
• Understand how science works, and how we know what we know.

Along the way, you'll learn about the Four Forces of Physics that describe virtually everything in the physical Universe, and you'll also get to enjoy the tremendous beauty of the cosmos.

Prerequisite: Math 102 or equivalent (algebraic functions, pre-calculus, trigonometry, logarithms and exponents).

After a brief introduction to the cosmos, the course is organized into four sections:

1. Tools of Astronomy: The Physics of Astronomy; Energy; Light; Spectra
2. Planets: Nature and Origin of the Solar System
3. Stars: Their birth, life, and death
4. Galaxies and Cosmology: The Origin and Fate of the Universe
   
   

Format

Course material will be explored in the two lectures every week; in-class tutorial exercises; readings from the text; and homework and project assignments (see Requirements for more details). You are encouraged to ask questions in class and during office hours; to visit the telescopes atop McConnell Hall; and in general to let only your imagination be the limit.

The Home Page for this class is at URL http://www.ast.smith.edu/james/a111. There you will find a link to Mastering Astronomy (www.masteringastronomy.com), a website associated with our textbook that provides tutorials, interactive demonstrations, and homework problems.

Philosophy

This course will cover larger topics -- measured by mass, size, age -- you name it! -- than any other class you will ever take. More importantly, you are now living in a complex, modern society where science plays an ever-increasing role. It is crucial that you understand how science and scientists actually work, since you will find yourself voting on, reading newspaper articles about, and probably using the products of scientific research every day for the rest of your life. Perhaps this course will spark a life-long interest in science; perhaps not. In any event, the thought processes and reasoning skills you develop this semester should stand you in good stead in situations far surpassing this single undergraduate 4-credit course.

Course Requirements

• Reading: Assignments in the text ("The Cosmic Perspective," 5th Edition, by Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, and Voit) for each class will be given at the end of the preceding class and are required. You should come to class prepared to discuss each assignment.
• Exams: There will be two one-hour exams and a cumulative final exam, each worth 20% of the final grade, for a total of 60%. Exam questions will be drawn from both class material and reading assignments.
  
  Grades will be assigned on the following scale. Letter grades may be adjusted upward if an exam is unusually hard.

If you get at least...	your grade will be at least...
90%	A-
80%	B-
70%	C-
60%	D

• Homework: There will be 10-12 written and online homework and in-class assignments, worth about 5% each, for a total of 40% of the final grade. Late homework will be marked down 25% for each week late after the original due date.

ASTRONOMY 111

Fall 2009 SYLLABUS

Class #	Date	Subject	Reading in Text
Introduction to the Cosmos
1	Tue, Sep 08	Course Overview; Naked Eye Astronomy	--
2	Thu, Sep 10	Scale of the Universe; Scientific Notation and Units	Ch. 1
3	Tue, Sep 15	History of Astronomy	Ch. 3
4	Thu, Sep 17	Astrology and Astronomy	Ch. 3
Tools of Astronomy
5	Tue, Sep 22	Matter and Energy	Ch. 4
6	Thu, Sep 24	Gravity and Orbits	Ch. 4
7	Tue, Sep 29	Gravity and Orbits	Ch. 4
8	Thu, Oct 01	Light and Thermal Radiation	Ch. 5
--	Tue, Oct 06	EXAM 1	--
9	Thu, Oct 08	Spectral Lines and Doppler Shifts	Ch. 5
10	Tue, Oct 13	No Lecture (Autumn Recess)	--
--	Thu, Oct 15	Spectral Lines and Doppler Shifts	Ch. 5
Planets
11	Tue, Oct 20	Solar System Overview	Ch. 7
12	Thu, Oct 22	Birth of the Solar System	Ch. 8
13	Tue, Oct 27	Terrestrial Planets	Ch. 9
14	Thu, Oct 29	Greenhouse Effect and Global Climate	Ch.10
15	Tue, Nov 03	The Giant Planets	Ch.11
Stars
16	Thu, Nov 05	The Sun and How It Works	Ch.14
17	Tue, Nov 10	The Distance to the Stars	Ch.15
18	Thu, Nov 12	Types and Properties of Stars and the HR Diagram	Ch.15
--	Tue, Nov 17	EXAM 2	--
19	Thu, Nov 20	How Stars are Born, Live, and Die	Ch.16
--	Tue, Nov 24	How Stars are Born, Live, and Die	Ch. 17
20	Thu, Nov 26	No Lecture (Thanksgiving)	--
Galaxies and Cosmology
21	Tue, Dec 01	The Milky Way: Our Galactic Home	Ch. 19
22	Thu, Dec 03	Galaxy Types; The Hubble Law	Ch. 20
23	Tue, Dec 08	Dark Matter and Dark Energy	Ch. 22
24	Thu, Dec 10	Cosmology and The Big Bang	Ch. 23
25	Tue, Dec 14	Cosmology and The Big Bang	Ch. 23