Astronomy 102, Summer, 2006
Syllabus
Vanderbilt University
Summer 2006
M-T-W-Th 5:00-7:20 PM, SC 6105
- Instructor
- Course Title and Goals
- 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
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.
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, and in the laboratory. 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: 20%
- Three Exams: 50%
- Final Exam: 30%
Homework Assignments
Every day before class, there will be a homework assignment which you can find on the Homework & Exams page, due at 3:00PM. This homework will be done entirely online in web forms, and will usually not involve calculations. It will usually be based on material covered in class during the previous two days. 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.
Three Exams
There will be three in-class exams, each of which will be one hour in length. The exam on which your score is lowest will count toward 10% of your grade; each of the other two will count toward 20% 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.
Final Exam
At the end of the course, there will be a single cumulative final exam.
Granding Standards
Each question or problem will be graded on a 0-3 scale:
- 0 – no useful or meaningful 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.
Each homework assignemnt or exam will be assigned a grade based on how you did on the problems. If you get all of the problems completely correct, you will get an A on the assignment. If you get all of the problems mostly right, you will receive a B on the assignment. If you get all of the problems partly right, you will receive a C on the assignment. In reality, most of you will have a mix of completely right, mostly right, partly right, and wrong answers; the grade you receive will be interpolated to be consistent with the standards just described.
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
| Date | Topic | Suggested Reading |
| 06/06 | An Overview of the Whole Universe | |
| 06/07 | The Age of the Solar System: Radioactive Dating | Chapter "Solar System Fluff", section "Radioactive Dating" |
| 06/08 | Solving Rate Problems | – |
| 06/12 | Powering the Sun | Our Sun and Stellar Structure, particularly the first two sections ("The Sun– an Average Star" and "The Sun's Power Source") |
| 06/13 | Looking at Stars & Galaxies: Light ; Doppler Shift | Electromagnetic Radiation (Light) |
| 06/14 | Blackbody Radiation ; Star Brightnesses, Temperatures, Sizes, Luminosities, and Distances | (sort of) Stellar Properties; also Continuous Spectrum |
| 06/15 | Exam 1 | – |
| 06/19 | Stellar Evolution | Lives and Deaths of Stars |
| 06/20 | Testing Stellar Evolution; Star Clusters | – |
| 06/21 | "Facts" and "Theories"; Science & Religion | |
| 06/22 | The Cosmic Distance Ladder | Distances– Trigonometric Parallax, and Distances: Inverse Square Law |
| 06/26 | Exam 2 | |
| 06/27 | The Expanding Universe; Cosmological Redshift | |
| 06/28 | The Cosmological Principle; Looking at Distant Objects and Looking Back in Time | |
| 06/29 | The Evolution of Galaxies | |
| 07/03 | The Big Bang; the Age of the Universe | |
| 07/04 | July 4 Holiday | The Declaration of Independence and The US Constitution |
| 07/05 | Exam 3 | |
| 07/06 | Global Course Review (led by Martha) | All of the above. |
| 07/07 | Final Exam |