Astronomy 102, Fall, 2006
Syllabus
Vanderbilt University
Summer 2006
M-W-F 1:10-2:00 PM, SC 4327
- Course Staff
- Course Title and Goals
- How To Succeed In This Course
- Textbook, or Lack Thereof
- Prerequisites (and About the Math)
- Grading
- Course Schedule
Instructor
Robert Knop, Assistant Professor of Physics
& Astronomy
Office: SC 6912
Campus Phone: 2-6165
AIM: rbrtknop
Jabber: rknop@jabber.org
MSN: drsteege@hotmail.com
rob.knop@vanderbilt.edu
Office Hours: MWF 2-3PM
If you need to meet with me and you can't make my regular office hours, please do not hesitate to contact me and set up an appointment at another time.
TA
Katie Chynoweth
Office: SC 6909
Office Hours: Tue/Thu 10:00-11:00 AM
katie.m.chynoweth@vanderbilt.edu
Course Title and Goals: Stars & Galaxies
This summer, we will focus the course around answering the two questions: How old is the Universe? How do we know?
"Stars & Galaxies" is a huge topic. Even at the introductory level, one could design an entire course over any of a number of small topics within this title. The focusing questions will allow, and indeed require, us to learn about a number of things in the physics of stars and galaxies. It will also require us to discuss and understand how science is done, and how we reach conclusions through science that we can trust.
Course Goals
The course goals, in rough order of importance, are:
to learn our best current understanding of the ages of various things in the Universe including the Sun, the stars in our Galaxy, and the Universe itself;
to understand the broad outlines of the evidence that lead us to the conclusion that we live in a Universe that is billions of years old;
to understand the process of science, and in particular astronomy as an observational and historical science rather than a strictly laboratory-based experimental science;
to understand what it is to look at great distances, and therefore back in time, and how by doing this we can learn about the history of our Universe;
to be able to solve basic quantitative and qualitative (logical/reasoning) problems in which, given some knowledge or data about astronomical objects, we can calculate or predict other properties or observations;
to gain an appreciation of the majesty and wonder of all the fascinating stars, galaxies, nebulae, and exotic objects that are in our Universe, and to see that an understanding of them can increase their fascination and wonder for us.
How To Succeed In This Course
A quick perusal of the course goals will show you that I place more emphasis on understanding than on memorizing facts. There will be things to know, but simply being able to repeat definitions and facts about the Universe will not be sufficient to do well in the course. I am going to ask you to process these facts, think about them, and draw conclusions from them. I am going to ask you to understand how different pieces fit together, and how we can learn and know things from astronomical observations.
When you are studying, think of it more as practice than as cramming. Remembering definitions and descriptions forms only a part of the puzzle. On the handouts page, I will be posting review problem sets. Do these review problems when they are assigned. They will not be collected or graded, but solutions will be posted. Problems similar to these review problems will show up on tests; make sure you understand how to do these problems and problems like them in order to prepare for the tests! Make sure you understand the thinking behind each of the homework problems. I will post answers to the homework problems (which will be available online). However, what is important is your being able to understand how I came up with the answer posted. The questions on the exam won't be exactly the same as the questions in the homework, so just learning the answers to those questions won't get you very far.
Practice doing problems. Sit down with other students and talk about what it all means, and challenge each other with questions about what might happen if you changed something, or if you tried to put something together. Don't just go back and read through the notes and the suggested readings, learning all the terms; that's not the most efficient use of your time. Use the notes as a reference, but practice thinking more deeply about the material.
Expect to spend some time studying for this course beyond simple competion of assigned work. You will do best if you study every week, rather than reserving a huge amount of work for the few days before an exam. Completing homework assignments will generally take you less than three hours each week. You will be most succesfully if you plan on spending a similar amount of time, on average, studying and doing the posted review problems.
Textbook
There is no primary textbook for this class. There is an excellent online textbook at:
astronomynotes.com
While there will not be "assigned" readings in this online text, you may use it to help you understand things not fully covered in lecture, and I will sometimes suggest relevant sections that may be helpful.
In addition, you may wish to check out an introductory astronomy text from the Stevenson Center library. There are a number of good textbooks which you may find useful for reference.
Prerequisites (and About the Math)
Math 133 (Algebra & Trigonometry) or equivalent. You will do some mathematics on homework and exams. You should understand scientific notation ("powers of ten" notation) and be able to use a calculator to compute numerical values for problems which involve large numbers. You must be able to perform and understand simple algebraic equations and manipulations.
None of the math in this class is advanced beyond what you knew in order to get into Vanderbilt. If you find you are having trouble with the math, please do not hesitate to ask me or the TAs to help you with it during office yours; we are eager to help you with any problems.
There is a Math Review available on the course's web page which you may find helpful. It also describes the standards I will be using in grading, e.g., with significant figures.
Grading
Your grade in the course will be calculated as follows:
- Homework Assignments: 25%
- Four Exams: 50%
- Final Exam: 25%
Homework Assignments
Every day before class, there will be an online homework assignment due at 10:00 AM. Absolutely no late homework will be accepted; indeed, if you click the "submit" button at 10:00:01 AM, the server will refuse to accept your answers. There will be no exceptions to this.
You can find these assignments on the Homework & Exams page, The assignment will generally be posted by the end of the day two days before it is due. These will usually not involve calculations. You may discuss the homework problems with other students in the class, but your final answer must be composed entirely by you, working by yourself without discussion, and must be in your own words. The homework assignemnts should generally take less than an hour to complete; some should take much less time.
Four Exams
There will be four in-class exams, each of which will be 50 minutes in length. The exam on which your score is lowest will count toward 5% of your grade; each of the other two will count toward 15% of your grade. (In other words, I am de-weighting the exam you do worst on.) During exams, students will not be allowed to speak with each other. You will be allowed the use of a calculator, but not of any notes or books. I will put any numerical values or equations you need on the front page of the exam.
Final Exam
At the end of the course, there will be a single cumulative final exam. This will count as 25% of your grade.
Granding Standards
Each question or problem will be graded on a 0-3 scale:
- For Exams
-
- 0 – no useful progress toward answering the question
- 1 – the answer is partially (at least about 50%) correct
- 2 – the answer is mostly correct, except for some small errors or omissions
- 3 – the answer is completely correct.
- For Homework
-
- 0 – question not answered, or answer does not meaningfully address question
- 1 – you honestly attempted the homework problem
- 2 – your answer is partially (at least 50%) correct
- 3 – your answer is mostly or completely correct
Scores will be totalled on each assignment. Grades will be assigned such that if you receive 1 point on each problem, you will receive (approximately) a "C" grade; 2 points on each problem, a "B"; 3 points on each problem, an "A".
Note that the only way to get 0 on a homework problem is not to seriously attempt it. Do the homework! Failing to do the homework is the fastest way to lose points that you didn't have to lose.
About Grading Difficulty
Be aware that I am firmly of the opinion that a B is a good grade. A B is a grade that you have to work for, and that indicates accomplishment. Even a C is a grade that requires work, and indicates that you presented a passing performance! A B indicates that you have done more than the bare minimum required to pass the course; an A is reserved for outstanding and excellent performance.
Course Schedule
Most of the "suggested readings" are links into astornomynotes.com, the unofficial online textbook for the course. Some will be links to material that I've written myself. Occasionally, there will be a link to a website that isn't simple reading, but something that's worth playing around with and surfing through.
| Date | Topic | Suggested Reading |
| W 08-23 | Introduction ; An Overview of the Universe | Introduction
to Astronomy"– An Atlas of the Universe |
| F 08-25 | An Overview of the Universe (cont'd) | ibid. |
| M 08-28 | Understanding Radioactive Decay | Solar System Fluff: Radioactive Dating |
| W 08-30 | Radiometric Dating ; the Age of the Solar System | ibid. |
| F 09-01 | The Age of the Solar System | ibid. |
| M 09-04 | E=mc2; Forms of Energy and eff, Energy "Efficiency"; How Long Must the Sun Shine? | Our Sun and Stellar Structure : The Sun's Power Source, Neutrino |
| W 09-06 | Nuclear Fusion: Powering a Star | ibid. |
| F 09-08 | Stellar Structure: What Is a Star? | Our Sun and Stellar Structure : The Sun – the Closest Star |
| M 09-11 | EXAM 1 | – |
| W 09-13 | Looking at Stars and Galaxies: Light ; the Electromagnetic Spectrum | Electromagnetic Radiation : Introduction, Electric and Magnetic Fields, Properties of Light. |
| F 09-15 | Atomic Transitions ; Photons ; Continuum, Emission, & Absorption Spectra | Electromagnetic Radiation : Production of Light, Bohr Atom, How Atoms Produce the Spectra |
| M 09-18 | The Doppler Shift | Electromagnetic Radiation : Doppler Effect |
| W 09-20 | Blackbody Radiation | Re-read Continuous Spectrum |
| F 09-22 | Luminosity, Brightness, and Distance | Distances – Inverse Square Law |
| M 09-25 | Luminosity, Brightness, Size, Temperature, and Distance | Distances – Inverse Square Law and Color and Temperature |
| W 09-27 | Luminosity, Brightness, Size, Temperature, and Distance | Distances – Inverse Square Law and Color and Temperature |
| F 09-29 | The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram | Types of Stars and HR Diagram |
| M 10-02 | Stellar Evolution | Lives & Deaths of Stars |
| W 10-04 | Red Giants, White Dwarves, & Neutron Stars | Lives & Deaths of Stars |
| F 10-06 | EXAM 2 | |
| M 10-09 | Testing Stellar Evolution: What Can We Learn About the Age of the Universe from Star Clusters? | – |
| W 10-11 | What Is a Scientific "Theory?" ; Science & Religion | – |
| F 10-13 | Looking at Distant Things: Looking Back in Time | |
| M 10-16 | October Break | |
| W 10-18 | The Cosmic Distance Ladder: Parallax | Distances– Trigonometric Parallax |
| F 10-20 | The Cosmic Distance Ladder: Standard Candles | Distances– Inverse Square Low |
| M 10-23 | The Cosmic Distance Ladder | TBA |
| W 10-25 | Cosmic Distances Redux | TBA |
| F 10-27 | A Uniform Expansion | Expanding Universe Activity |
| M 10-30 | EXAM 3 (Prof. Knop Away) | – |
| W 11-01 | Describing a Uniform Expansion; the Hubble Time | TBA |
| F 11-03 | Measuring Expansion : Cosmological Redshift | TBA |
| M 11-06 | The Hubble Diagram; The Expansion History & Fate of the Universe | TBA |
| W 11-08 | Measuring the Expansion History of the Universe | TBA |
| F 11-10 | Dark Matter: Gravity vs. Motion, Galaxy Rotation Curves | Dark Matter Observations |
| M 11-13 | Dark Matter: Gravitational Lensing, the "Bullet" Cluster | Heaven help me, but I'm pointing you to an entry on my blog for the reading. |
| W 11-15 | The Three Pillars of the Big Bang : Expansion, Cosmic Microwave Background, Primordial Nucleusynthesis | TBA |
| F 11-17 | The Age of the Universe! | TBA |
| M 11-20 | Thanksgiving Break | – |
| W 11-22 | Thanksgiving Break | – |
| F 11-24 | Thanksgiving Break | – |
| M 11-27 | Cosmology Review (Prof. Knop away) |
TBA |
| W 11-29 | EXAM 4 | – |
| F 12-01 | The Big Bang Theory; the History of the Universe | TBA |
| M 12-04 | The Big Bang ; What's Next? | TBA |
| W 12-06 | How Old is the Universe? How Do We Know? | TBA |