Announcements Archive
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The scores for Exam 3 are posted on Canvas, as well as the Course Total numerical score calculated as described in the Syllabus and in the 11/2 entry of the Announcements Archive. To translate your numerical score to a letter grade, use the Table posted on the Exams page, and read off the column in percentages. You now have a choice to make. If you wish, you may take the optional Final Exam, scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 9, 7-9 PM in RLM 5.104, our usual classroom. The optional Final Exam will address material covered over the whole semester, but will be the same length and format as Exams 2 and 3. Prof. Dinerstein will not be present at the final exam, which will be proctored by Jacob and another faculty member. Office hours for the week of Dec. 7 - 11 will be as follows: Prof. Dinerstein will hold office hours on Monday, Dec. 7, 1-2 PM, and on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 12-1 PM (the latter is a change). Jacob will hold office hours onTuesday, 2-3 PM. At these office hours you will be able to pick up your graded Exam 3 and see which questions you missed. If you missed any previous exam, the optional final exam is your make-up opportunity. If you have taken all three earlier exams and also take the final, the best 3 out of the 4 exams will be counted for your course grade. |
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Exam 3 is being graded, and scores will be posted on Canvas possibly on Sunday, but definitely by Monday. Then you will be able to calculate your course grade according to the procedure spelled out in the 11/2 entry of the Announcements Archive. To translate your numerical score to a letter grade, use the Table posted on the Exams page, and read off the column giving percentages. There will be slight change in our office hours for the week of Dec. 7 - 11. Prof. Dinerstein will hold office hours on Monday, Dec. 7, from 1-2 PM, and on Wednesday, Dec. 9 from 12-1 PM (which is a change). Jacob will hold office hours on Tuesday, 2-3 PM. These office hours will provide you with an opportunity to pick up your graded Exam 3 and see where you missed points. The Optional Final Exam is Wednesday, Dec. 9, 7-9 PM in our usual classroom. The optional Final Exam will address material covered over the whole semester, but will be the same length as the other exams. If you missed any previous exam, this is your make-up opportunity. If you have taken the three earlier exams and take the final, the best 3 out of the 4 exams will be counted for your course grade. |
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Exam 3 will be given in class on Thursday, Dec. 3. See the Study Guide (on the Exams page) for details on what topics will be covered. There will be several events on Wednesday, Dec. 2. Prof. Dinerstein will hold office hours from 2 -3 PM, and there will be a Public Talk that you can attend for credit (if you turn in the assigned write-up) from 4 - 5 PM (see Out of Class Credit page). A Help Session will be held at 7:30 PM, and if weather permits, there may be a Star Party you can attend on the roof of RLM. Write-ups and slips should be turned in at Exam 3, or at latest, by 2:00 PM Fri., Dec. 4, to Susy Graves in RLM 15.204. Exam 3 will be graded as quickly as possible, and scores posted on Canvas. At that point you will be able to calculate your course grade according to the procedure spelled out in the 11/2 entry of the Announcements Archive. The optional Final Exam will cover the whole semester, but will be the same length as the other exams. Office hours that week will be: Mon and Wed, 1-2 PM, with Prof. Dinerstein, and Tues., 2-3 PM with Jacob. If you missed any previous exam, this is your make-up opportunity. If you have taken the three earlier exams and take the final, the best 3 out of the 4 exams will be counted for your course grade. |
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On Tuesday, Nov. 24, we will talk about Hubble's Law, including two exercises on its application and applicability; see ch. 20, pages 612-619, and also ch. 23. On Tuesday after Thanksgiving break we will re-take the Background Survey (another point of participation credit), talk about ch. 22, and conduct the Course-Instructor Survey. Exam 3 is Thursday, Dec. 3; a Study Guide for it will be distributed and posted on Nov. 24. Information is now available regarding the Public Lecture on Wed., Dec. 2, on "Out of Class Credit" page. If you want to earn participation credit for attending this lecture, you must write up an original (in your own words) summary and turn it in before 2 PM on Friday, Dec. 4 (the last class day). Even if you don't need the participation credit, we highly recommend this talk, which will be about the discovery of the accelerating universe, which we will have just discussed in class! Also note: if you want credit for participating in a Star Party, you must turn in your signed official slip at or before Exam 3, or at the very latest, by 2 PM on Fri., Dec. 4 at the Astronomy Student Office, RLM 15.204. |
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Next week we will finish talking about the end states of stars, as white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes, and move onward and outward to galaxies. New readings for Nov. 17 and 19 are (most of) chs. 19 and 20 (see Readings page for details). Homework 7 has been posted and distributed, and is due at the start of class on Thurs., Nov. 19. This will be the last graded homework. Information is now available regarding the Public Lecture on Wed., Dec. 2. If you want to earn participation credit for attending this lecture, you must write up an original (in your own words) summary and turn it in before 2 PM on Friday, Dec. 4 (the last class day). Even if you don't need the participation credit, we highly recommend this talk, which will be about the discovery of the accelerating universe, exactly what we will have just discussed in class! |
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We are now immersed in the properties and life stories of stars. We are doing all of ch. 14 and 15, skipping ch. 16, then covering ch. 17.1-17.3 and 18.1-18.3. Time is growing short, and we want to cover galaxies and cosmology, too! Homework 6 will be distributed on Thurs., Nov. 5 and due on Nov. 12. There will be only one more homework after that, due to the place of Thanksgiving break in our schedule. There will be some in-class activities that provide practice on certain types of numerical problems that may later appear on the exams. |
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: | Note for those who are evaluating their probable course grade: It has come to my attention that some students are basing their decisions on whether or not to Q-drop this course on the "Total" credit listed on Canvas. Do not use this number! It is not meaningful because it is computed by the Canvas system without using the weights that are appropriate to this class. These weights were spelled out at the beginning of the semester in the course syllabus, and you can use them to estimate your own current standing: (1) The exams are worth 64% of the course grade. Since the exam scores are already on a scale of 64, take the average of your exam scores to date. (2) Homeworks are worth 20% of the course grade. We will be counting the 5 highest homework scores, and have had 5 graded homeworks so far. The homeworks are already on a scale of 20 points, so take the average of these homeworks, averaging in a zero for any missed assignments. (3) The other 16% of the grade is from participation credits. Add in the credits you have so far, for the minimum; the maximum is 16 points but you must actually earn these to receive them. Add (1), (2), and (3) for a numerical Course Total, and compare to the chart on the Exams page, consulting the column labeled "Percent (other items and total course grade)." This is your projected course letter grade, assuming continued performance at the same level as in the first two months of the class. There is of course the possibility of improving on this, through your work between now and the end of the semester. |
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Exam 2 scores are now available on Canvas. The letter grade corresponding to each score will be the same as for Exam 1, and is posted on the Exams page. The overall statistics for Exam 2 are quite similar to those of Exam 1. A few more students got A's this time, and several fewer got B's, with the similar numbers for C and below. The graded exams will be returned at the end of class on Tues., Nov. 3. Reminder: If you intend to Q-drop this class, or to change whether you are graded on a letter grade vs. credit/no credit basis, your deadline is Tues., Nov. 3. This is true for all of your UT classes. After this date, Q-drops are granted only for non-academic reasons and can be obtained only through the Dean's Office of your College. This week we move into the realm of stars. Having taken a close look at the Sun (ch. 14), we will tackle ch. 15, then skip ahead to ch. 17. Homework 6 will be distributed Nov. 5 and be due Nov. 12. |
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Exam 2 is being graded; we hope to have the scores posted this Saturday, with the exams to be return in class on Tues., Nov. 3. We are posting the scores in advance of returning the exams so that students can assess whether they want to Q-drop the class or change their grading basis between Credit-No Credit and Letter Grade before the Nov. 3 deadline for such changes. The exam score-letter grade equivalents are expected to be the same as for Exam 1, which is posted on the Exams page. No new homework was distributed on Oct. 29. The next homework will go out Nov. 5 and be due Nov. 12. It will mostly focus on the material in ch. 15, which we will be covering on Nov. 3 and 5. |
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Exam 2 will be given on Tuesday, Oct. 27, with similar rules and format as Exam 1. Be sure to bring a working scientific calculator. This exam will cover chs. 5 & 6 and parts of chs. 10-13, as specified on the Readings page and the Study Guide for Exam 2, which is posted on the Exams page. Pre-exam office hours are: Friday, Oct. 23 and Monday, Oct. 26, 1-2 PM, with Prof. Dinerstein. The Help Session will be Monday, Oct. 26, 7:30 - 8:30 PM, RLM 15.216B. There will be no help session on Wed., Oct. 28. After the exam we will move on to the topic of stars, starting with our Sun; the reading for Thurs., Oct. 29, is ch. 14. |
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There is no new homework this week. Homework 5 is being graded and will be returned at the end of class on Thurs., Oct. 22. Specific sections and pages to read in your textbook for this week's classes have been posted on the now updated Readings page. Tuesday's lecture will be given by Prof. John Lacy; this material will be included on the next exam. Prof. Dinerstein will return on Thurs., Oct. 22, but will miss her office hours on Mon., Oct. 19. Exam 2, which will cover chs. 5 & 6, and selections from chs. 7 - 13, will be given on a Tuesday, Oct. 27. The pre-exam Help session will be on Monday, Oct. 26 at 7:30 - 8:30 PM in RLM 15.216B. Prof. Dinerstein will hold her office hours that Monday from 1-2 PM as usual. A Study Guide for Exam 2 will be distributed on Tues., Oct. 20. Details of the readings and recommended study questions as they will appear on the Study Guide, are already posted on the Readings page. |
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Exam 1 has been graded and scores posted. To interpret your numerical score, see the Letter Grade Correspondence table on the Exams page. Also see the Feedback file for Exam 1, which addresses some of the most frequent missed questions and common errors on the exam. Keep in mind that Exam 2, which will cover chs. 5 & 6, and selections from chs. 7 - 13, will be given on a Tuesday, Oct. 27. The pre-exam Help session will be on Monday that week. The week of Oct. 12, we will finish ch. 8 and spend a lot of time on ch. 13, on Other Planetary Systems. Bring calculators on Thursday for an extended in-class activity. The following week there will be a Guest Lecture by Prof. John Lacy on Oct. 20; you will be responsible for this material. Homework 5 has been distributed and posted, and is due at the beginning of class on Thurs., Oct. 15. |
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On Thurs., Oct. 8, we will finish ch. 6 on telescopes and methods, and start the unit on Planetary Systems. Read over chs. 7 & 8, but you don't need to memorize all the detailed information about the individual planets. We will skip ahead to ch. 13, then backtrack to chs. 10, 12, and maybe ch. 11. There will be a Guest Lecture by Prof. John Lacy on Oct. 20; you will be responsible for this material. Homework 4 is due at the beginning of class on Thurs., Oct. 8. There will be a Help Session Wed. evening as usual. The fourth sentence in part (a) should read "If an absorption line is at 8000 Angstroms for a star with zero radial velocity...". Comment: Many people had trouble with the Doppler Shift worksheet on Oct. 6. Although most of the groups calculated the amount of the wavelength shift correctly, fully half applied it in the wrong sense! The question says explicitly that the star is moving towards us, which causes a "blueshift" - a shorter, not longer wavelength. Read over the instructions on that sheet, which is posted on the Exercises page. People also had trouble calculating frequencies. You must convert the speed of light and the wavelength to the same units before taking the ratio. Only 3 groups got the correct exponent on the factor of 10; the reason for getting it wrong was usually the use of inconsistent units. Exam 1 is being graded, and most likely will be returned on Thurs., Oct. 8 at the end of class. Looking ahead, please note that Exam 2 will be on Oct. 27, a Tuesday. The Help Session that week will be on Monday evening. A Study Guide for Exam 2 will be available no later than Oct. 22. |
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On Tues., Oct. 6 we will finish ch. 5, on the properties of light, and discuss the tools and techniques of observational astronomy (ch. 6). Then we will move on to the unit on Planetary Systems, starting with chs. 7 & 8 on Oct. 8; these are short chapters and can be read quickly. Homework 4 was distributed and posted last week. It is due at the beginning of class on Thurs., Oct. 8. There will be a Help Session Wed. evening as usual (see below right for time and place). The fourth sentence in part (a) question 5 was poorly worded, and you may find it confusing. Instead of saying "If the star has zero velocity, for an absorption line at 8000 Angstroms," it should read "If an absorption line is at 8000 Angstroms for a star with zero radial velocity..." Exam 1 is being graded, and most likely will be returned on Thurs., Oct. 8 at the end of class. |
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Exam 1 will be given on Thurs., Oct. 1. This is a closed-book, closed-notes exam. You must arrive no later than 12:45 PM in order to get credit for this exam, and no one may leave the room before 12:50 PM. Bring a working scientific calculator and writing implements; you do not need to bring paper or a blue book. You will be giving your answers on the exam itself, and will have access to scratch paper if needed. This exam will cover only through the end of ch. 4; see the Readings page or Study Guide for details. If you picked up a hard copy of the Study Guide in class you may wish to look at the revised version, now posted on the Exams page, which has a few additional equations. Regular office hours and a Wednesday evening help session will be held the week of the exam; see details of time and place below right (on this page). We have just about finished ch. 5, on the properties of light. There will be a homework on this chapter, distributed on Oct. 1 (pick up a hard copy as you leave the exam, or download it from the website), due Oct. 8. On Tuesday Oct. 6 we will discuss ch. 6, on the tools and techniques of observational astronomy. |
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Don't forget to look for the lunar eclipse on Sunday evening! The best part, when the Moon is fully eclipsed, will be between about 9:10 and 10:20 PM. We are now in the middle of ch. 5, on the properties of light. The next topic will be the tools and techniques of observational astronomy, covered in ch. 6. We will distribute and post Homework 4 on Oct. 1 and it will be due at the beginning of class on Thurs., Oct. 8. Exam 1 will be on Thurs., Oct. 1. This is a closed-book, closed-notes exam. You must arrive no later than 12:45 PM in order to get credit for this exam. Bring a working scientific calculator and writing implements; you do not need to bring paper or a blue book. This exam will cover only through the end of ch. 4; see the Readings page or Study Guide for details. If you picked up a hard copy of the Study Guide in class you may wish to look at the revised version, now posted on the Exams page, which has a few additional equations. Regular office hours and a Wednesday evening help session will be held the week of the exam; see details of time and place below right (on this page). |
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Homework 3 is due at the beginning of class on Thurs., Sep. 24. Papers turned in between then and 2:00 PM Friday will be graded with a late penalty. This week - and in the future - late papers need to be delivered to Jacob's (T.A.) office (see below right), or to Susy Graves in the Astronomy Student Office, RLM 15.204. From now on, do not turn in late homework to the professor or to her office. Anyone who attended the Public Lecture last Friday and wants to earn participation credit for it must turn in a brief write-up describing what you heard and learned from the talk, no later than Thursday, Sep. 24 at the beginning of class. The password-protected interface for this course has been enabled; you will need these in order to access all content materials for the class. This information can be obtained only in person, by coming to class and asking the professor or T.A. This week we will finish ch. 4 (on gravity) and begin ch. 5 (on light). Exam 1, which will be held on Thursday, October 1, will cover only through ch. 4. A Study Guide will be distributed Thurs., Sep. 24, and office hours and a pre-exam Help Session will be held at the usual times and places during the week of September 28. |
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The password-protected interface for this course has now been implemented. The username and password were announced in class on both Tuesday and Thursday. This information can be obtained only by coming to class and asking the professor or T.A. While the announcements and index pages are still publicly available, you will need to enter the password information in order to download all content files (pdfs). Reminder: there will be a Public Lecture on the exploration of Mars by robotic rovers on Friday, Sep. 18. Details of when and where are posted here. To receive participation credit for attending this talk, you must turn in a short write-up; see the Out of Class Credit page for guidelines. The readings for September 22 and 24 are ch. 4 and ch. 5. Exam 1 will be given on Thursday, October 1. A Study Guide for this exam will be available on Thurs., Sep. 24, and a pre-exam Help Session will be held at the usual time and place on Wednesday, September 30. |
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Today we discussed synodic periods and Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion (ch. 3.3). Homework 2 will be collected in class on Thursday, Sep. 17, but if you need more time you may turn it in by 2:00 PM on Friday without a late penalty (just for this week). You may turn these in to Susy Graves in the Astronomy Student Office (RLM 15.204) or slide them under Prof. Dinerstein's office door (RLM 16.324). Just for this week, do not turn them in to the TA, as he will not be in the office that day. A relevant and interesting Public Lecture is being offered by the Aerospace Engineering department on Friday, Sep. 18. The topic is the history and science mission of Curiosity, one of the current robotic exploration devices on Mars. If you want to earn participation credit (counting towards the 16 point maximum), you'll need to write up a few paragraphs (no longer than 1 page, and hard copy only) on what you learned, and turn it in by Thursday, Sep. 24. See the Out of Class Events page, or find the details here. We will continue with the story of how astronomers finally came to understand the motions of our Solar System as being controlled by gravity, discussed in ch. 4, finishing this topic no later than Sep. 22. |
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We have finished ch. 2 and much of Supplemental Chapter S1, as well as ch. 3.2. Homework 2 was distributed and is posted. Problems 3 and 4 on HW 2 are on material that is covered in ch. 3.3 but we have not yet discussed in class. We will talk about it next Tuesday, and there will be a Help Session on Wed., Sep. 16, so it should be possible to complete and turn it HW 2 on the due date of Thurs., Sep. 17. However, since we are running a little behind the planned schedule, for this week only there will be no late penalty if you turn in the homework by Friday at 2 PM. You may turn these in to Susy Graves in the Astronomy Student Office (RLM 15.204) or slide them under Prof. Dinerstein's office door (RLM 16.324). Do not turn them in to the TA. The readings for next week are ch. 3.3 and ch. 4. We will move from Kepler's (empirical) "Laws" of planetary motion to Galileo's proof of the heliocentric model (Earth and planets go around the Sun) to Newton's Laws of Motion and Gravity. |
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On Tuesday, Sep. 8, we discussed the positions and motions of stars and the Sun. We did an exercise on how the Sun's daily path across the sky changes with season and latitude; the worksheet and links to templates for making your own cardboard model are posted on the Exercises page. Also, the derivation of key angles in the sky presented on the blackboard is now posted on the Supplements page. The readings for Thursday are: the rest of chapter 2 (namely,2.3 and 2.4); S1.1 and S1.2 in Supplemental chapter S1; and pp. 61-70 in chapter 3 (you may skim the rest). Homework 1 was distributed last week and can be downloaded from the Homework page. It is due at the beginning of class on Thursday, Sep. 10; see the Syllabus and the top page of Homework 1 for policies regarding format and lateness. There will be a Help Session on Wednesday evening, Sep. 9, as well as regular office hours (see below right for details). Homework 2 will be distributed at the end of class on Sep. 10 and then posted on the class website. Star parties have begun, and may be attended for participation credit; see instructions and links on the "Out of Class Credit" page. Links to sites that tell you about objects you can see in the sky currently are posted on the "Helpful Links" page. |
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We are now in the middle of ch. 2, which discusses basic sky phenomena: positions and motions of the stars, Sun, Moon, and planets. In addition to reading the rest of ch. 2, I recommend that you look at ch. S1.2. This is part of Supplemental Chapter 1, which follows ch. 3. Homework 1 was distributed Thursday, Sep. 3 and can be downloaded from the Homework page. It is due at the beginning of class on Thursday, Sep. 10; see the Syllabus and the top page of Homework 1 for policies regarding format and lateness. We will hold regular office hours (see below right) Tuesday through Thursday on the week of Sep. 7-11, and have a help session on Wednesday evening. Star parties have begun, and may be attended for (a small amount of) participation credit; see instructions and links on the "Out of Class Credit" page. Links to sites that tell you about objects you can see in the sky currently are soon/now posted on the "Helpful Links" page. |
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We have finished ch. 1 in the textbook, and will begin ch. 2 on Thursday (Sep. 3). If you are feeling a little rusty on the mathematical manipulations you saw in class on Sep. 1, take a look at Appendix C: A Few Mathematical Skills. It presents, along with other things, several examples of doing conversions between different units. The first Homework will be given out on Thursday, Sep. 3 and due at the beginning of class on Thursday, Sep. 10. Our first help session will be the evening before the homework is due (Sep. 9). Note that we offer several office hours per week; if you need help and can make those hours, please come then. If you cannot make these times, please contact the instructor or T.A. to set up an appointment. |
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At the first meeting of the class on Thursday, August 27, we began by taking a background survey. This survey provides us with a picture of what course material is already familiar to you and what topics will call for special attention. Completing the survey also earned each student who completed it one point of participation credit. If you missed the survey, however, you can easily earn the equivalent credit through another in-class activity or Star Party (see the Syllabus). We briefly introduced some of the different types of astronomical objects and their definitions (see Class Slides for Aug. 27, downloadable as a pdf file). As an initial assignment, you are asked to carefully examine the "class logo" picture, an image of part of our neighboring galaxy the Small Magellanic Cloud. Make a list for yourself of the different kinds of objects you think you see in the picture. Click here for detailed instructions and a better version of the figure. We will discuss your findings in class on Tuesday, Sep. 1. If you do not already have the textbook, Bennett et al's "The Cosmic Perspective, 7th edition," you should take immediate steps to acquire it. There are many options, ranging from new or used bound or unbound paper copies, eTextbooks, and rentals. See p. 2 of the Syllabus for further explanation. You will not need to bring the book to class, but it is important that you be able to read the assigned chapters, which will include most of the book. |
7 December 2015
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