UGS 303, Popular Astronomy
Fall 2011
Unique numbers: 64855,64860,64865,64870,64875,64880,64885,64890,64895,64900,64905,64910
CLASS MEETS: TTH 11:00-12:30 in WEL 1.316
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Karl Gebhardt
Office: RLM 16.218
Phone: 512-471-1473
Fax: 512-471-6016
email: gebhardt@astro.as.utexas.edu
Office Hours: MW 11-12, other times by appointment or stop by anytime
URL: http://www.as.utexas.edu/~gebhardt/u303f11/u303.html

TEACHING ASSISTANTS: Jacob Hummel, John Jardel, Myoungwon Jeon, Daniel Kagan
Discussion Sessions: The discussion sessions will focus on background and additional material for the lectures. Much of the lecture material will be conceptual, and exams and quizzes will focus on understanding of these concepts. It is therefore important for students to discuss these concepts among themselves. Below are the specifics for these sessions:
M: 9:00-10:00 MAI 220B, Jacob (64855)
M: 9:00-10:00 MAI 220F, Myoungwon (64860)
M: 10:00-11:00 MAI 220B, Jacob (64865)
M: 10:00-11:00 MAI 220F, Myoungwon (64870)
M: 11:00-12:00 MAI 220B, Jacob (64875)
M: 11:00-12:00 MAI 220F, Myoungwon (64880)
M: 12:00-1:00 MAI 220B, Daniel (64885)
M: 1:00-2:00 MAI 220B, Daniel (64890)
M: 2:00-3:00 MAI 220B, Daniel (64895)
M: 3:00-4:00 MAI 220E, John (64900)
M: 4:00-5:00 MAI 220E, John (64905)
M: 5:00-6:00 MAI 220E, John (64910)
Office Hours: Jacob:
Office Hours: John:
Office Hours: Myoungwon:
Office Hours: Daniel:

PREREQUISITES: None

COURSE OBJECTIVES: Astronomy receives considerable attention from the media and the public in general. It allows us to ask fundamental questions about who we are, where we come from, and where we will end up as a world. This course will concentrate on the areas of Astronomy that are currently most covered by the media---planet detection and interpretation, supermassive black holes, gamma-ray bursters, dark matter in the Universe, dark energy, and other significant developments that arise during the semester. We will cover each of these in depth, but will also concentrate on the reaction that the media has had on them. The media and public often have an uncanny ability to probe directly to the main reasons for why scientists study a particular problem. The student who completes this course will not only have a better scientific understanding of the current hot topics in Astronomy, but also understand how the media can actually drive science in general.

TEXTS: No textbook is required. Much of the relevant material will be articles that are available on the internet, so access to the internet is important. Lectures, along with many articles from the internet, will be provided online. I strongly recommend the book ``Cosmic Perspective'' by Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, and Voit for additional material. I will add websites to the lists below during the semester.

GRADING: The students final grade will consists of:
15% homework
15% exam 1
15% exam 2
20% exam 3
20% project
15% in-class quiz and class participation

The following grading scale will be used: 90+=A; 80-89=B; 70-79=C; 60-69=D. Any average below 60 is failing.

EXAMS: Exams 1-3 will consist of multiple choice, short answer and essay answer. The in-class quizzes will be short (20 minutes), testing conceptual understanding of recent material.

HOMEWORK: There will about 5 homework assignments. These will be written assignments, internet activities and reports. All written assignments must be in computer-generated format - no handwritten work. Some of the assignments will involve problem-solving and math. Homework will be graded on presentation, style, and content.

PROJECTS: The projects will be either a 10 page paper, group presentation, group observing project, or group internet project. The details of the projects will be explained on a separate page. Each group should be composed of around 4 people. Many of the observing projects will involve the 9-inch refractor in Painter Hall.

GEMS Resources: All of you, especially those doing observing projects, should make use of the observing facilities on campus - either Painter Hall Observatory or the star parties on top of RLM. For the research papers, you are encouraged to make use of facilities at Blanton Museum of Art, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, and UT Press.

University Lecture Series: There are lectures on September 12th and 13th at 7pm in Bass Concert Hall.

POLICIES: There will be make-up examinations ONLY for students with valid excuses. The lowest quiz score will be dropped (so you can miss one quiz), otherwise no make-up quizzes unless you have a valid excuse. Also the lowest homework will be dropped.

Homework assignments will not be counted after the due date.

Homework can be done in groups (and I encourage this) but you must hand in your own work. Homeworks that are duplicates will have severe penalties.

Class attendance and participation will be important to how you do in the class. Since we will not use a book, it is important to come to class. The calendar for the course is given below. I will try to stick the schedule as closely as possible. If any dates change, I will make the changes in this file so refer to this webpage for updates.

WEB RESOURCES: I will have plenty of resources listed on the course website for additional help and information. In particular, the suggested book has a website at http://www.astronomyplace.com that is very useful. They have study questions and guides for students. I highly encourage use of this website.

RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS: By UT Austin policy, you must notify me of your pending absence at least fourteen days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If you must miss a class, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, you will be given an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence.

COURSE CALENDAR

Date	Subject	Due
8/25	Intro	---
8/30	Exoplanets	---
9/01	Exoplanets	---
9/06	Exoplanets	Quiz 1
9/08	Exoplanets	---
9/13	Exoplanets	Homework 1
9/15	Particle Physics	---
9/20	Exam 1	---
9/22	Gravity	---
9/27	Gravity	---
9/29	Black Holes	Quiz 2
10/04	Black Holes	Homework 2
10/06	Black Holes	---
10/11	Black Holes	Homework 3
10/13	Dark Matter	Quiz 3
10/18	Dark Matter	---
10/20	Exam 2	---
10/25	Dark Energy	---
10/27	Dark Energy	---
11/01	Dark Energy	Quiz 4
11/03	Dark Energy	Homework 4
11/08	Cosmology	---
11/10	Cosmology	Quiz 5
11/15	Cosmology	---
11/17	Cosmology	---
11/22	Fate of Universe	---
11/29	Fate of Universe	All Projects
12/01	Exam 3	---