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Announcements Archive
12/8
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All presentations have now been graded. Scores for the presentation and your total Semester score are
posted on eGradebook. Be sure to check the individual Answers & Comments link, as I have posted
detailed comments for almost everyone. The formula for calculating the semester total is given on the new
Grading page, along with the letter grade correspondences. (Actual letter grades will not be entered
until after the Final Exam, for obvious reasons.) Be sure to check this for Comments as well, since I have given
advice to many of you about whether or not it is worthwhile for you to take the Final Exam.
As announced in class, office hours next week are: Mon 2-3 PM and Wed. 1-2 PM (Jessica); and 1:30-2:30
PM (Prof. Dinerstein). The final exam is Thurs., Dec. 14, from 2-5 PM in the classroom. It is comprehensive,
including some coverage of the material presented in the student reports.
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12/4
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The Power Point presentations shown in class are being posted on the Oral Presentations
page. This week's theme is the story of stellar aging and life cycles. For suggestions on how to improve your
talks, see the newly posted file called "Advice on Giving More Effective Presentations." Also of possible interest:
a summary of last Thursday's Course Survey (on the Lecture Summaries page).
I am continuing to correct small problems in the Instructor's Notes. I have reposted Packets 21
and 23 to correct a couple of trivial typos and one rather grungy figure. Please send me an email if you find
any typos.
Homework 6 will be returned in class on Tues., Dec. 5. Towards the end of this week, I will post
your numerical course totals and the letter-grade curve so that you can decide whether to take the Final
Exam on Dec. 14.
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12/1
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The Power Point presentations shown in class are being posted on the Oral Presentations page.
Next week's theme will be on aspects of stellar life cycles ("stellar evolution").
I am in the process of correcting the Instructor's Notes for typographical errors, and cleaning
up some of the figures. If you have noticed any typos, please email them to me. So far I have reposted Packets
11, 13, and 22, with (very minor) corrections.
Homework 6 will be returned in class on Tues., Dec. 5. As presentation grades are assigned,
I will start posting projected semester grades, so that you can decide whether to take the Final Exam
on Dec. 14.
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11/29
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We continue the student presentations this Thursday, with the topic of "substellar objects," which
includes brown dwarfs and extrasolar planets. Speakers are Christoph B., Drew, Henry, and Tara. Please
send your Power Point files to Prof. Dinerstein within 48 hours of giving your talk. The slides will be posted
(though sometimes with a simplified background for easier reading and printing). Note that these files can
only be accessed if you have the password for the class, so your slides are not available to the whole Web!
Homework 6 is due at the beginning of class on Thursday. It will be graded and returned by next
Thursday, Dec. 7.
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11/27
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This week we begin our student presentations. Tuesday's class will focus on special and new
observational techniques; the speakers are Chris Colon, Nic May, Fred Holt, and Alex Fry. A complete
list of the talks is (or will soon be) posted on the Oral Presentations page. Attendance is
expected for these "student talks" sessions, and there will be questions about them on the optional
Final Exam.
Exam 3 has been graded and will be returned at the end of Tuesday's class. Optional
Homework 6 has been distributed, and is due at the beginning of class on Thurs., Nov. 30.
You may have received an email regarding the Course-Instructor Survey; we are participating
in a pilot program to do the surveys on-line rather than via pencil and paper. If you have not already
filled out the survey, please wait a few days, as I have a few extra questions I would like you to address
in your responses - specific questions about aspects of the class such as amount/difficulty of homeworks,
exams, etc. Thanks!
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11/20
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Exam 3 is on Tues., Nov. 21. The Instructor's Notes are now complete
through Section X.B, which covers Spectroscopic Binaries. I have also posted an Outline, with
page numbers, for the Notes. Some additional material from Nov. 16 is covered in the Lecture
Summary for November 16, and in the Supplemental Illustrations files. The remaining
office hours this week are Mon., 3-4 PM, with Jessica.
Special Note: Bring the complete set of your earlier, graded Homeworks and Exams to
Exam 3 and turn them in (in a folder or envelope) for 5 extra points on Exam 3. These
are needed for a departmental project to assess student performance in general. They will be
returned to you after Thanksgiving.
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11/17
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Exam 3 is on Tues., Nov. 21. It will emphasize topics we have covered since Exam 2,
but you also may need to draw on material from earlier in the semester. Office hours this
coming week will be Mon. 11 AM-noon (Prof. Dinerstein) and 3-4 PM (Jessica). We will not
hold office hours on Tuesday and Wednesday. Supplemental Illustrations and suggested readings
for the newer material are already posted; other items including Notes Packets will be added as
soon as possible.
Special Note: Bring the complete set of your earlier, graded Homeworks and Exams to
Exam 3 and turn them in (in a folder or envelope) for 5 extra points on Exam 3. These
are needed for a departmental project to assess student performance in general. They will be
returned to you after Thanksgiving.
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11/11
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Homework 5 was handed out on Tues., Nov. 7, and is due Tues., Nov. 14.
Office hours this week are moved to Mon., 12-1 PM (Jessica) and Mon., 2-3 (Prof. Dinerstein).
A short outline of your oral presentation, including several reference sources is due (in hard copy)
on Thurs., Nov. 16. See the Oral Presentations pages for more information.
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11/7
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As mentioned in class on Tuesday, UT Astronomy will be hosting viewing of
the Mercury transit on Wednesday,
Nov. 8, on the 13th floor of RLM. (Click on the link for more information.)
Homework 5 was handed out on Tues., Nov. 7, and is due Tues., Nov. 14. A short outline of your
oral presentation, including several reference sources is due (in hard copy) on Thurs., Nov. 16.
See the Oral Presentations pages for more information.
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10/27
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The Instructor's Notes are now complete through Section VII.D. Although more
packets may continue to appear, Packet 17 is the last material you are responsible for on Exam
2. This exam will focus on pages 41 - 82 of the Notes, although you might need to make use of
some concepts covered earlier in the semester. (A challenge: who has found at least one typo
on the Equations for Exam 2 page?)
Since Exam 2 will be on Tues., Oct. 31, we will hold office hours on Monday, Oct. 30
instead of Wed., Nov. 1. Prof. Dinerstein will be available from 11 AM - noon, and Jessica will
hold an office hour from 2 - 3 PM.
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10/25
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The Instructor's Notes are now complete through the topic of the Boltzmann and Saha
Equations (Section VII.A). One or two more packets on high resolution spectroscopy are coming soon,
and will be covered on Exam 2. An equations page for the exam will be handed out (and posted) on
Thurs., Oct. 26.
Since Exam 2 will be on Tues., Oct. 31, we will hold office hours on Monday, Oct. 30 instead
of Wed., Nov. 1. Prof. Dinerstein will be available from 11 AM - noon, and Jessica will hold an office hour
from 2 - 3 PM.
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10/23
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A summary for the Oct. 17 lecture is posted; see Lecture Summaries page. This
summary has the equations you need for HW 4, in case you didn't get them from notes taken in class.
(One additional piece of information you need for the homework is the ionization potential of
hydrogen: it's 13.6 eV.)
Since Homework 4 is due Tues. Oct. 24, we will adjust our office hours that week. Monday,
Oct. 23, Prof. Dinerstein will be available from 11 AM - noon, and Jessica will hold an office hour
from 2 - 3 PM.
A new chapter of Instructor's Notes (Packet 12) has been posted, with more to come, and a typo
in Packet 9 has been corrected. Note that Exam 2 will be on Tues., Oct. 31.
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10/19
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Since Homework 4 is due Tues. Oct. 24, we will adjust our office hours that week.
Monday, Oct. 23, Prof. Dinerstein will be available from 11 AM - noon, and Jessica will hold an
office hour from 2 - 3 PM.
A new chapter of Instructor's Notes (Packet 12) has been posted, with more to come, and a typo
in Packet 9 has been corrected. Note that Exam 2 will be on Tues., Oct. 31.
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10/17
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Homework 4 was distributed on Tues., Oct. 17 and is due Tues. Oct. 24.
The Lecture Summaries page is now up to date; more Instructor's Notes will
be posted soon. Note that Exam 2 will be on Tues., Oct. 31.
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10/11
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Lecture Summaries have been posted for Oct. 5 and Oct. 10, as well as additional
chapters of Instructor's Notes. Some extra diagrams shown with Power Point in class are
posted on the Supplemental Illustrations page.
Homework 3 is due in class on Thurs., Oct. 12, and information about the oral report
project will be distributed that day in class.
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10/5
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Homework 3 was distributed on Thursday, Oct. 5, and is due next Thurs., Oct. 12.
A copy is posted on the Homeworks link. We have now covered up through the fifth item
on the list of topics on the syllabus: telescopes, astronomical instruments, and detectors. The week
of Oct. 9 - 13 we will start discussing spectral lines and stellar spectra; see Topics & Readings
page if you want to read ahead.
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10/2
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Exam 1 has been graded, and will be returned on Tues., Oct. 3. The grading
curve will be announced and some of the questions people had the most trouble answering
will be reviewed. We will continue the topic of effects of the Earth's atmosphere on observations
of stars. On Thursday we will begin a new unit on spectroscopy and stellar spectra; more packets
of Instructor's Notes, and pages for readings in reserve books, will be posted soon.
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9/27
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The first Hour Exam will be given in class on Thurs., Sep. 28. It will cover material
through Section III.E (Packet 8) of the Instructor's Notes. If you want to see more
information on any of these topics, see the Readings page, which now has a more
detailed list of specific topics and the relevant pages on these topics in several reference books
that are on reserve for Ast 352K in the PMA Library.
You should bring a calculator and pens and/or pencils to the exam. The instructor will provide
the paper. This is a closed-book exam, but you will be given a fresh copy of the "Equations" page
(a draft of which was distributed Tuesday) to use during the exam.
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9/25
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The first Hour Exam will be given in class on Thurs., Sep. 28. It will cover material
through Section III.E (Packet 8) of the Instructor's Notes. You should bring a calculator
but no blue book; the instructor will provide paper. This is a closed-book exam, but you will be
given a page of constants and equations. An example of the equations page is posted with the
Instructor's Notes. (Please note: a couple of small typos were found by a member of
the class in Packets 4 and 7. These have been corrected and reposted, so you may wish to
re-download those packets.)
Homework 2 has been graded and will be returned in class on Tuesday, Sep. 26, and
the Instructor and T.A. will be available during office hours and by appointment this week if you
have questions about any course material.
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9/20
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Homework 2 is due before class on Thurs., Sep. 21. Instructor's Notes are now
posted for all material covered through Tues., Sep. 19.
No new homework will be given out on Sep. 21, since we will have our first hour exam next Thursday,
September 28.
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9/15
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Homework 2 was handed out on Thurs., Sep. 14; if you did not pick up a copy,
it is also available as a pdf file on the Homework page. We have not yet
covered all the material needed to do problem 4. It will be covered on Tuesday,
and in notes to be posted, but if you want to get a head start, see the recommended
readings on the Topics & Readings page.
Our first hour exam is tentatively scheduled for Thurs,, Sep. 28, on all material covered through Tues., Sep. 26.
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9/12
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Lecture Summaries for the first three class meetings are now posted. In addition, I
have some additional diagrams of the celestial sphere, coordinates, etc., that two members
of the class thought were helpful; these are now posted on the Supplemental Illustrations
page. (This file is listed by title, not date.)
Homework 1 is due at the beginning of class on Thursday (Sep. 14). Our T.A. has office hours
Wed. afternoon (right), but there will not be any office hours or homework help available on
Thursday morning. So don't wait until Wednesday night to start! See the syllabus regarding
homework grading and lateness policies. Homework 2 will be given out on Thursday and due next
week.
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9/8
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As announced in class, most of the course materials are now password-protected. If
you did not attend class on Thursday, you'll need to ask a fellow student, or call the instructor
or TA, to obtain the log-in information.
Homework 1 was handed out on Thursday, and is due at the beginning of class next
Thursday (September 14). Notes for the material covered so far are posted on the
Instructor's Notes link.
We have almost finished the topic of stellar positions. Next week we will move on to:
properties of electromagnetic radiation, blackbody spectra, and the stellar magnitude scale.
Optional reading (in books on reserve in PMA library): ch. 3 in Ostlie & Carroll; and ch. 5
and some of ch. 15.1 in Bennett.
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8/31
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At our first class meeting, on Thursday, Aug. 31, we went over the
course syllabus,
and covered through page 3 of Packet 1 of the Instructor's Notes. Beginning after next Tuesday's
class, course materials will be posted in a restricted-access directory.
On Tuesday we will discuss the equatorial coordinate system and the daily and yearly paths
of the stars and Sun in the sky. Optional advance reading: pages 8 - 14 in Ostlie & Carroll, 1st ed.,
and chs. 2.1 - 2.2 and S1.2 - S1.3 in Bennett's "Cosmic Perspective." Both of these are on reserve
for Ast 352K in the PMA library (ground floor of RLM).
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