5/16

:

Course grades have been submitted.

Have a great summer!

P.S. If you are going to be in Austin on June 5, you might be interested in the Astronomy Department's plans for safe viewing of the transit of Venus. For more information, see http://outreach.as.utexas.edu/venus/index.html.

5/7

:

As of today (Monday, May 7), Exam 3 has been scored. Exam grades and course numerical totals will be posted on Blackboard in the next day or two. All students are welcome to take the Optional Final Exam on Fri., May 11, 9:00 AM, in our usual classroom. Although this is a comprehensive exam covering material from the whole semester, it will be the same length, format, and rules (UT photo ID, arrive by 9:15 AM) as the other exams. Your score on the final exam, if higher, can replace an earlier missed or lower-scoring exam. (Note: The Study Guide for Exam 1 has been revised to provide additional resources.)

We will hold the following Office Hours the week of May 7 - 10: Mon,, 1 - 2 PM and Thurs. 2 - 3 PM (Prof. Dinerstein); Tues. and Wed., 1 - 2 PM (T.A. Kevin Gullikson). It will be possible to go over earlier exams, but please email us in advance, so that we can pull out your exam papers.

4/30

:

In a slight change in plan, the Background Survey Retake will take place on Wed., May 2 at the beginning of class. We will also do the Course-Instructor Survey that day. However, there will be another participation activity on Mon., Apr. 30, providing 2 opportunities this week to boost your Participation Credit total. (Note: Only the first 10 points count.)

A Study Guide for Exam 3 is posted, on the Hour Exams page. The exam, on Fri., May 4, will cover most of ch. 11 - 17, except for a few topics not discussed in class (see the Study Guide). All students are eligible to take the Optional Final Exam on Fri., May 11, 9 AM - noon. If your score on this comprehensive final exam is higher than on one of your previous hour exams, the higher score replaces the lower one. No permission is needed in order to take the final, although it would be helpful if you would email the T.A.s and tell us if you plan to take the exam, so that we know how many copies to prepare.

4/23

:

We have now covered most of ch. 14 & 15, except for the sections on black holes in galactic centers, which we may have to skip (you can read these on your own). Read ch. 16 and 17.2 for next Monday. The Exam 3 Study Guide is posted on the Hour Exams page, and includes suggested end-of-chapter review questions, selected tools on the textbook website, and a list of additional study questions. On Mon., Apr. 30 we will do a re-take of the background survey from the first class day. This also earns you one additional participation credit, if you have not yet reached your total of 10 available points. Up to 2 points can also be earned by attending a Star Party (see Out-of-Class Participation Activities page).

4/18

:

The quiz on Fri., Apr. 20 will cover all new material since the previous quiz, Quiz 6. This corresponds to Sections 12.3, 12.4, 13.1, and part of 13.2 in your textbook: pages 345 - 370. This will be the last quiz of the semester, but there will be one more homework, due Fri., Apr. 27.

A new column has been created on our Blackboard grade center, giving your Total Participation credits to date. These include index cards, the first-day Background Survey, and any Star Parties or Public Lectures you attended. While we will have an additional 2 or 3 participation activities before the end of the semester, if you are low on credits, you might consider attending a Star Party to boost your total. See the link to Out of Class Participation Activities for further information. Note, however, that no more than 10 points of participation can count towards your grade (extra participation credits cannot make up for low scores on homeworks, quizzes, or exams. Therefore, even if your total is greater than 10 points, only the first 10 points will count.

4/16

:

We are just finishing ch. 12 and moving on to ch. 13. There will be a quiz on the latter on Fri., Apr. 20.

This is a good time for you to assess whether or not you have earned all of the possible Participation credits. To do so, go to Blackboard and add up the following columns: all columns listed by date (these are the index cards), the first-day survey, Star Parties, and Public Lecture write-ups. The maximum number of these credits that can count towards your grade is 10. If you have less than 10 points, you may wish to attend a Star Party or two, if you have not already taken your allowed 2 points for star parties. There will also be at least two more opportunities to earn participation credit in class.

4/6

:

We will have class on Friday, April 6 as usual. We are beginning the topic of discussing the life stories of stars, covered in ch. 12. Homework 5 will be given out in class, and posted on the website this afternoon; it will be due on Fri., Apr. 13.

If you attended the Public Lecture on April 4, and want this to count for participation credit, your write-up is due Wed., Apr. 11. If you are still seeking Participation points, there will be more opportunities in class, as well on-going Star Parties until the end of the semester.

4/2

:

Scores for Exam 2 have been posted. Statistics, letter-grade correspondences, and answers to frequently-missed questions are posted on the Exams page. We will have a quiz on Wed., Apr. 4 on ch. 11.1 & 11.2, and hope to finish ch. 11 by the end of the week. Homework 5 will be given out (and posted) on Fri., Apr. 6. I am planning to hold class as usual that day, unless the governor declares it a State Holiday (which has happened some years). If so, the announcement will be made by 11 A.M.

For those looking to make up missed participation credits, there will be a Public Lecture on Wed., Apr. 4, 4:30 P.M., on the topic of "Our Expanding Universe." See the Out of Class Participation Activities page for more details.

3/23

:

We have finished discussing the Sun, and will move on stars in general next week; read ch. 11 for Monday. Exam 2 is coming up on Fri., Mar. 30, with a help session on Thurs., Mar. 29. Exam 2 will cover ch. 5, 6, 10, and parts of ch. 9. If you did not pick up a Study Guide at the end of class on Friday, it will be available in class on Mon., Mar. 26.

For those students who are seeking additional out-of-class participation credits, there will be Public Lecture you can attend for credit on Wed., Apr. 4. See the Out of Class Participation Activities page for more details.

3/21

:

Quiz 4, on Fri., Mar. 23, will cover the lectures this week, also discussed in ch. 10.1 & 10.2 of the textbook. Although we will be moving on to ch. 11: Sizing up Stars after the quiz, the second Exam, on Fri., Mar. 30 will be only on chs. 5, 6, 9, & 10. The Study Guide for Exam 2 will be available on Friday.

3/9

:

We have now finished Parts I - III of the textbook, and will move on to Part IV: Stars, beginning with chs. 10 & 11 the week after Spring Break. Homework 4, based on material in the textbook, is due at the beginning of class on Mon., Mar. 19. There will be a Quiz on ch. 10 on Fri., Mar. 23, and Exam 2 will be on Fri., Mar. 30 as previously announced.

I hope you are having a nice Spring Break, and don't forget to watch the evening skies for the close approach of Venus and Jupiter around March 12!

2/29

:

We are now in the unit on Planetary Systems, in particular covering ch. 6 for the rest of this week. Homework 3 is due Fri., Mar. 2 at the beginning of class, with a Help Session on Thursday afternoon. We will continue with the rest of ch. 6 and portions of ch. 9 on Friday and next week.

Upcoming Items: We will have another participation card either Fri., Mar. 2 or Mon., Mar.5, Quiz 3 on Wed., Mar. 7 based on ch. 6, and no class meeting on Fri., Mar. 9.

2/23

:

Numerical grades for Exam 1 are now available on Blackboard, and the letter correspondences for a given number score is given in the Exam 1 feedback file on the Exams page. Keep in mind that if you are not satisfied with your score, there will be an opportunity for you to replace it with the score on the optional final exam, should that score be higher. (The final exam can replace a lower score on any one of the three hour exams.)

We will have a short Quiz on Fri., Feb. 24, on chapter 5, sections 1 and 2. We will finish ch. 5.3 on Friday, and will move on to Part III: Learning from Other Worlds next week. There is a fair amount of reading on this topic, and not all of it will be presented in class. We recommend that you chapter 6, sections 6.1 - 6.4 before Monday's (Feb. 27) class.

2/12

:

Homework 2 is being graded and will be returned at the end of class on Wed., Feb. 15. Exam 1 is Fri., Feb. 17 with a Help Session Thurs., Feb. 16 at the usual time and place.

The Study Guide for Exam 1 was distributed in class Friday and is posted on the Hour Exams page. The exam will be in multiple-choice format, and will cover chapters 1 - 4 with emphasis on material covered in class and on the homeworks and quizzes. See the Study Guide for more specific information.

Important Information on Exam Procedures: The exam will be closed-book, closed-notes, no cell phones. Bring your UT Picture ID since we will be checking them. If you fail to do so, we will use our discretion on whether to count your exam. Also, you must arrive before 1:15 P.M. in order to take the exam. No one will be allowed to leave the exam room without turning in their exam, and no one may leave until 1:20 PM or later.

If you attended the Public Lecture on Saturday, you must turn in your write-up by Fri., Feb. 17 - see the Participation Credits page for details.

2/6

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Quiz 1 is being graded and will be returned at the end of class on Wed., Feb. 8. There will be a Help Session Thurs., Feb. 9 if you have unanswered questions about the Quiz, or need help on Homework 2, which is due at the beginning of class on Fri., Feb. 10. Note that since T.A. Kevin is at McDonald Observatory this week, his usual office hour on Wed., Feb. 8, 11 AM - noon will be covered by another Astronomy graduate student, Thomas Gomez, whose office is RLM 16.312 (down the hall and around the corner from Kevin's).

Note the opportunity to earn Participation Credit by attending the Public Lecture by Dr. Roger Angel on Sat., Feb. 11 - see the Participation Credits page for more details.

1/30

:

Homework 1 is being graded and will be returned at the end of class on Wed., Feb. 1. There will be a Help Session Thurs., Feb. 2; bring your questions. Quiz 1 will be given in the first 10 minutes of class on Fri., Feb. 3. It will cover the material discussed in class from chs. 1 & 2 of our textbook and be in short-essay format.

We will move on to ch. 4 at the end of this week and beginning of next week, and Homework 2 will be available (in class and posted on this site) on Fri., Feb. 3 with a due date of Feb. 10.

1/25

:

Homework 1 - posted as a pdf file - is due at the beginning of class on Fri., Jan. 27. Therefore, office hours and a Help Session will take place this week (see right). We are continuing with ch. 2 on Friday, perhaps finishing on Mon., Jan. 30.

We will be moving on to ch. 3 next week. The topics in ch. 3.3 will be covered in detail in class, but the rest of the chapter is straightforward material, which you should read on your own.

1/20

:

On Fri., Jan. 20, we finished the material covered in ch. 1, did an activity for participation credit, and distributed Homework 1. If you did not pick up a paper copy of the homework, you can download it from the Homework page. Homework 1 is due Fri., Jan. 27 before the beginning of class. There will be a help session on Thurs. Jan. 26 (details as listed under the galaxy picture), in addition to regular office hours, if you have questions.

The reading for the week of Jan. 23rd is ch. 2, which is about understanding basic phenomena of the day and night sky. On Monday, we will focus on sections 2.1 and 2.2, and we will continue with the rest of the chapter on Wednesday.

1/18

:

Welcome to 301! The syllabus was distributed at our first class meeting, Wed., Jan. 18, and is now posted (see link at left).

The reading for Fri., Jan. 20, is chapter 1 of your textbook. The first homework assignment will be distributed on Jan. 20 and due one week later, on Fri., Jan. 27.