Astronomy 104 -- The Solar System
Fall 2007
Class Hours: 2:00 - 3:15 Tuesday and Thursday, Hoyd Aud.
Professor:
Office Hours: Wednesday 2:00-3:30pm and by
appointment.
Note on contact: Please do not attempt to
contact me via email. I simply receive
too many emails per day to respond promptly.
The best way to reach me is via phone at the number above
Teaching Assistants:
Carol Latta,
Available via email and phone (585) 230 9548,
almost before/always after class
Teresa Oeinck teresa.oeinck@rochester.edu,
Office Hours: Wed 5:00 – 6:00 room Morey
502, Thursday 4:30 – 5:30 room B&L 108
Adi Robinson, arobin10@mail.rochester.edu,
Office Hours:
Tuesday 19:30 – 20:30, room B&L 269. Sunday 4:30 – 5:30 room : second floor
ITS.
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Basic Course Objective: To show how astronomers
and astrophysicists use the "scientific method" to learn about our
solar system and its place in the universe.
There will be also be a focus on how this knowledge changes our
understanding of the Earth and our impact on it. A second focus will be on the new field of
“Astrobiology” and how comparisons of different planets sheds light
on where, how and when life might form.
Text: Seeds, Foundations of Astronomy 8th Edition. We
will cover chapters 1-8 and 19-26.
Other Resources: The World Wide Web is an excellent resource for
information on astronomical subjects. HOWEVER PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS A
This website is
www.pas.rochester.edu/~afrank/A104
NASA sites are particularly thorough. You can
learn about the recent Mars exploration here: NASA M2K4 (Mars 2004)
Check out the "Astronomy picture
of the day archive" . You can look at the textbook publisher's home page .
Astronomy and Sky and Telescope magazines are both
excellent sources for current information about the Solar System and astronomy
in general. Find them in the POA library and the WWW.
Links to Observing the Night
Sky:
Here is a link which describes what can be seen
with binoculars binocular
observing
This link has a weekly summary of what to look
for in the night sky "This
week's sky at a glance." (It tells you when you need a telescope). At
the bottom of that page, you can actually subscribe to have the information there
emailed to you weekly if you are so inclined. In general for things brighter
than about 5.5 magnitude (thus lower number than this on the magnitude scale)
you can see them with naked eye.
These two links have a bit info on naked eye
and binocular observing: naked
eye and binocs .
The following link is a to the video archieve of the "Jack Horkheimer Star
Gazer" show for naked eye astronomy with links of 2 minute video
descriptions of of what to look for. star gazer show .
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Coursework:
Study text & notes.
7
Problem Sets The curse
will use the WebWorks homework system.
All homework will be completed online through the WebWorks system. All assignments must be completed by 11:55pm
on the due date.
No
credit for that set will be given for homework turned in after this due
date/time because the solutions for that homework will be posted after the due
date expires.
Homework
will be worth 25% of the grade.
3
Closed Book Exams:
There will be three closed book multiple choice exams. The second exam will
emphasize material introduced after the first exam. The third exam will be
based on material after the second exam AND a specified subset of earlier
chapters
The
aim of exam questions is toward testing your understanding of the concepts
rather things like dates or specific detailed numerical values.
The
material in this course is cumulative, thus many concepts from the first part
of the course will re-appear throughout the course.
Your
two highest exam scores will each count 30% of the final grade. The lower of
your three exams will be 15% of your grade. If you miss an exam you will
receive a zero for that exam.
No Formal Final Exam this Year
Course
Grading: The grading
scale for the overall course will be 89-100=A range; 79-88=B range; 69-78=C
range; 55-68=D range; Below 55=Fail range. Any adjustments to this scale, if
the need arises, will be in your favor.
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Keys
to Success:
COME
TO CLASS! The best way to know what is
important is to see what the professor thinks is important. The class experience is part of your
education.
Mastering
the material in the textbook, the homeworks, and using the summaries at the end
of each chapter as a guide for your review is a good approach for doing well in
this course.
Pace
yourself: Keep up with the reading so that the review before the exams is
indeed a review.
Discuss
the material with classmates.
All
graded work will be placed in a box outside of B&L 417A.
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Course
Schedule
Below
are the Date; the Topic; Chapter Number in Seeds. Lecture notes are linked
above.
Listed below
is your study and chapter reading time plan for the course. Occassionally
material presented in lectures may be supplementary to the study plan below
(e.g. film), but you should still keep pace with the study plan, textbook
reading, and online lecture notes listed below because the exams will be based
on the textbook chapters specified.
Note
also: Some pedagogic films will be
shown during the course, even when not explicitly listed.
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4 Sept;
Introduction to Astronomy, Time and Spatial scales, scientific notation, survey
of planets; 1
6 Sept;
Magnitudes, Night sky, Celestial Sphere, Seasons; 2
11 Sept; Motions in the sky, cycles of the moon; 3
13 Sept;
Motions in the sky (continued); 3
16 Sept (HOMEWORK 1 DUE 11:55pm)
18 Sept.;
History of Astronomy; 4
20 Sept.;
History of Astronomy (continued); 4
25 Sept.;
Gravity and orbits; 5
27 Sept.;
Gravity and orbits (continued); 5 (HOMEWORK 2 DUE
11:55pm)
2 Oct.; (GUEST
LECTURER) Light and telescopes; 6
4 Oct.;
Information from distant objects; 7
9 Oct.; The
Sun; 8 (HOMEWORK 3 DUE 11:55pm)
11 Oct.; Exam #1; (at regular class time) on chapters 1-6
16 Oct.; The
Sun; 8 (continued)
18 & 23 Oct.; Origins of the Solar System; 19
25 Oct. ; the
Earth, Moon and Mercury; 20 & 21 (HOMEWORK 4
DUE 11:55pm)
30 Oct. ; the
Earth, Moon and Mercury (continued); 20 & 21
1 Nov.; Venus
and Mars; 22
6 Nov.; Venus and
Mars (continued) 22 (HOMEWORK 5 DUE DUE 11:55pm)
8 Nov.;
Jupiter and Saturn; 23
13 Nov.;
Jupiter and Saturn (continued) 23 (HOMEWORK 6 DUE
DUE 11:55pm)
15
Nov.; Exam #2 (at regular class time) ; on chapters
7,8, 19-23
20 Nov;
Uranus, Neptune and Pluto; 24
27
Nov; Meteorites, Asteroids and Comets; 25
Nov 30 (HOMEWORK 7 DUE DUE 11:55pm)
29 Nov;
Meteorites, Asteroids and Comets; 25
4 Dec; Origins
of life in the Universe 26
6 Dec: Origins
of life in the Universe 26 (HOMEWORK 8 DUE DUE
11:55pm)
11 Dec.:
Greenhouse Effect and Life on Earth (HOMEWORK 9 DUE
DUE 11:55pm)
13 Dec.: Exam #3 (at regular class time) ; on chapters
2,3,5,6,7,19,23,24,25,26