AST 301 Introduction to Astronomy

Section	Chapters in Textbook	Number of Lectures	Contents
I.	Introduction A) Course Organization a) description of the course b) course requirements c) math review B) Contents of the Universe a) overview of astronomy b) distance scale of the universe	Total of 2 1 1	_1, 2 1, 2
II.	Planetary Motion and Gravity A) Overview of the Solar System a) contents of the solar system b) motions of the planets B) Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion C) Newton’s Law of Gravity a) force, acceleration, inertia b) Newton’s Law of Gravity c) orbital motion d) Kepler’s third law revised	Total of 3 1 1 1	3 3 3
III.	The Solar System A) The Earth a) interior of the Earth b) tectonic activity c) age of the Earth B) The Inner Planets a) Mars b) properties of the terrestrial planets C) The Outer Planets a) Jupiter b) properties of the Jovian planets D) Comets, Meteors, Asteroids	Total of 4 1 1 1 1	5 6 7 8

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IV.	The Properties of Stars A) The Distances of Stars a) annual parallax b) other ways to measure distance c) the nearest stars d) brightness and luminosity B) The Nature of Light a) the wave nature of light b) speed, wavelength, frequency c) temperature and black body radiation d) The temperatures of stars C) The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram a) the H-R diagram b) numbers, radii, density of stars D) The Chemical Composition of Stars a) the nature of atoms b) the particle nature of light c) Kirchhoff’s laws d) the spectra of stars e) the composition of stars E) The Masses of Stars a) binary and multiple stars b) the Doppler shift c) spectroscopic and eclipsing binaries c) the masses of stars F) Variable Stars a) eclipsing and spotted stars b) pulsating variables c) supernovae	Total of 9 1 2 1 3 1 1	12 4,10 12 12 12,14 12

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V.	The Structure and Evolution of Stars A) Physics of Stellar Interiors a) nuclear energy; fusion b) temperature c) normal and degeneracy pressure B) The Structure of Main-Sequence Stars a) gravity and pressure balance b) energy and energy flow c) the structure of the sun - a typical main-sequence star C) Interstellar Matter and Star Formation a) interstellar gas and dust b) star formation c) open clusters and associations D) Origin of the Solar System a) origin and evolution of the solar system b) search for other solar systems E) Evolution up to the AGB b) main-sequence evolution c) evolution up the Giant Branch a) the H-R diagram of clusters b) Open and Globular clusters c) cluster ages d) cluster distances F) The Old Age and Death of Stars a) low mass stars; white dwarfs b) stars of intermediate mass; supernovae, neutron stars c) high mass stars; black holes and relativity	Total of 11 2 2 1 1 2 3	11 11 13 9 13,14 13

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VI.	Normal Galaxies A) The Milky Way a) structure and contents: disk, halo, and spiral arms b) rotation and mass of the Galaxy c) history of the Galaxy: age, metallicity, and opulations B) Normal Galaxies b) properties of elliptical galaxies c) properties of spiral galaxies d) dwarf and starburst galaxies e) evolution of galaxies C) Galaxies and Their Environment a) collisions and interactions b) clusters and large scale structure c) effect of environment on evolution D) Distances and Hubble’s Law a) measurement of distances b) the radial velocity of galaxies c) Hubble’s Law and its meaning	Total of 5 1 2 1 1	14 15 15,16 16

VII.	Violent Galaxies and Cosmology A) QSOs and Active Galactic Nuclei a) distance and luminosity of QSOs b) jets and radio lobes c) spectra of QSOs d) active galactic nuclei and host galaxies e) structure and evolution of QSOs B) Cosmology a) principles of cosmology b) the expansion of the universe c) the age of the universe d) the BigBangmodel:the cosmic microwave background and primordial chemical composition e) the geometry of the universe f ) the future of the universe	Total of 5 2 3	16 17

VIII.	Utility Lecture	1	None

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_	Total Number of Classes	44	_