Just under the cutoff? If at the end of the semester you are just under the cutoff for a grade (by, say, one, or two, or 0.3, percentage points), whether you are just under a D, say, or an A, do not call Prof. Scalo asking him to lower the cutoff--this is unfair to all concerned. Cutoffs will not be lowered to accommodate your individual score. Scores at the end of the semester are not rounded up, so, for example, a 77.7 will get you a C.

Special Requests
If you have any special request of any sort (excluding those not allowed, like lowering the grade cutoff), please put the request in writing, preferably by email, or call me on the phone. Please state clearly and explicitly your request and why it is reasonable. Include a phone number so that I can contact you about your request. Obviously (I hope) this procedure does not apply to minor requests such as "Could you stop twitching so much during your lectures?," etc. Any suggestions for improvement of the class as we proceed will be greatly appreciated--an email is usually the easiest way.

Attendance: Although I will not take attendance records, you should keep in mind that the exams are based heavily on the lecture material (as well as the textbook), and that the "notes" that I will usually make available to you are only bare outlines or abstracts of my lectures. The biggest single danger in this course is to fall far enough behind, either through lack of reading or spotty attendance, that you cannot really understand the material being covered. Subsequent chapters will almost certainly seem obscure. I therefore urge you to attend all classes.

Suggestions for success: Read ahead before each lecture: take class notes: after studying the material, do assigned "homework" questions: and most importantly, look at material as often as possible, even if it means 15 minutes every day. Finally, attempt to talk about the material, to yourself or someone else or an inanimate object if necessary.

Dropping the course (see http://www.utexas.edu/student/registrar/07-08long.html and General Information, ch.4, for details of required approvals).

The 12th class day, Friday Sept. 16, is the last day to add or drop courses without penalty and to receive a refund; you can drop by phone but must add through the department. Wed. Sept. 28 is the last day a Q drop may be obtained (with Dean's approval) without the instructor's permission, except for urgent and substantial nonacademic reasons. After the end of the 4th week of class, and until the deadline for dropping courses (Wed., Oct. 26), a student wishing to drop a course will ask the instructor to complete a drop form that assigns a Q (ONLY if average grade is D or better) or an F. After Oct. 26, students are only allowed to drop for urgent and substantial nonacademic reasons (e.g. extended health-related problems or family emergencies). For non-academic reasons, a written appeal must be presented in the Student Division of the Dean's Office. The College of Natural Sciences does not in general honor the "one free drop" policy of some other colleges (e.g. Liberal Arts), so do not ask me for a Q drop after Sept. 28 if your grade is less than you would like, or after Oct. 26 for academic reasons (i.e. because your grade is low), no matter what a counselor in your college may have told you. The only possible exceptions are first-semester freshmen who are allowed to drop a single College of Natural Sciences course.

Incompletes: An incomplete (X) will only be considered for students who cannot complete the required course work for reasons other than lack of diligence (illness or other imperative nonacademic reasons), but only if the student has a passing grade on the work completed.

Cheating: Academic dishonesty will result in failure of the course and a report to the Dean of Students, who will decide on further action. Because of the large size of this class and the temptations involved, it will be important to keep your eyes from wandering and to guard your own exam. Also, bring your UT ID card with you to exams and be prepared to show this card if asked.

Student observing opportunities (schedule is tentative--call 471-5007 for Monday updates) Students interested in observing the night sky through small telescopes have several opportunities. 1. The Painter Hall Observatory has UT Student/Staff Night on Fridays from 9:30 to 10:30. Public Night is on Saturdays, 8:30 to 10:30. These sessions are free and open to all ages; no reservations are required. 2. The Astronomy Department sponsors weekly "Star Parties" on the 18th floor observing deck of R.L.Moore Hall 30 minutes after sunset (8pm, probably 7pm until the end of daylight saving time) on Wednesdays this fall. This is free and open to the public. First Wed. night will be Sept. 5. Call 471-5007 for a list of all Astronomy Department public events, since this schedule may have changed.

Course Description - Review this in detail after first class

This course is meant as a descriptive introduction to a wide range of topics in astronomy for students who are not science or math majors. The emphasis in this course is on description of astronomical phenomena, how astronomical observations can be interpreted, and physical theories for the evolution of various types of astronomical objects. Concerning the mathematical level, it is minimal in this course--I do not believe manipulation of formulas demonstrates understanding, so I try to equalize the background differences by using very little math in lectures, and almost (not quite) none on the exams. However you will encounter a few important but simple formulas in the text whose understanding will be helpful, even crucial, throughout later sections of the course, so please don't interpret this paragraph as suggesting that you should ignore the important equations! .

You should also get used to seeing very large and very small numbers expressed in "scientific notation" (be sure to read Appendix 1 of the text, at the end of the book, or at the web site, on this). Another thing that will be very helpful is to develop a comfort with looking at graphs, if you're not comfortable already. Comfort with scientific notation and graphs will greatly enhance the ease with which you comprehend concepts later in the course, and so I urge you to spend some time on these matters early in the course. However most of the emphasis in this class will be focused on a verbal-level presentation and understanding of the material. Generally, if you can explain all the material in everyday language to someone who knows nothing about astronomy, you will probably do well on the exams. If you struggle for terminology and know that you don't understand what you just said, it is a sign that you need to study more.

The lectures will generally emphasize the most important and/or difficult topics covered in the text and attempt to clarify their connections. The lectures will not cover every topic covered in the text that you are responsible for, so don't assume that if it's not covered in lecture, it won't be on the exam; I will tell you in lecture (and on review sheets before each exam) which parts of the text you can skip or are of minor interest. Similarly, there are a (very) few topics to which I will add material not covered in the text. So you may find it a distinct advantage to attend classes regularly, especially since some of the exam questions will be taken directly from lecture material, and I am in the habit of asking questions during class that later magically appear on exams.

Because reading is all you have to do in this course (besides the homework consisting of self-test questions), I expect you not to get behind. In particular, I will assume that you have tried to look over the relevant text material before the corresponding lecture, so that the lecture can serve as a concentrated review and clarification. If you are coming to class "cold," without having skimmed the material in the text, you will find yourself at a large disadvantage.

I have used this textbook many times, and have stayed with it partly because its writing is clear (as far as science writing can be clear), and because of its visual materials. Please spend an hour leafing through the whole textbook so that you have a feel for the kinds of topics we will cover, and the level of detail that you will encounter.

The texbook website contains a LOT of material, including the whole textbook, with links to updates on developments that have occurred very recently, links between figures and topics in the text and animations; hyperlinks between all cross-links, uber-meta-quasi-pseudo-hyperlinks, glossary terms, learning objectives; and other stuff. I will NOT hold you directly responsible for any of this material that is not in the textbook. The website material can be perused at your discretion. It should be emphasized, however, that some students report their understanding of the material strongly enhanced by, say, looking at pictures and animations, so I want to encourage you to at least dabble around at the web site as we cover each new topic. Use of this site is entirely optional EXCEPT for the use of the multiple choice self-testing module at that site. (Click on Astronomy Today 6/e, then choose "Multiple Choice 1" and "Multiple Choice 2.") A separate handout will be passed out listing specific suggested study guide questions for the first few exams.

Basic Outline of Reading Covered on Exams (subject to possible slight modification, e.g. if we don't quite finish covering a particular chapter, we may postpone that material to a later exam--I will notify you in class and by email if there are changes, and well in advance of the exams)

Because of the large number of topics included in "astronomy" and the finite length of the semester, I have decided to omit several chapters that consist of detailed discussions of objects in our solar system (chapters 7-14), and to not discuss the history of astronomy, except in ways that I will make clear in class. We will also omit Ch.28 (extraterrestrial intelligence); take AST 309L (which is frequently taught) for a full-semester treatment of this subject.

We need to first develop the background physical principles that will be used to understand observations and theories. This might be the most crucial part of the course, but unfortunately it is, for most students, the most dry and difficult. However much of your later success in understanding the material will depend on how comfortable you are with these basic physical concepts. So probably the most important advice for this course is to NOT get behind in the reading and self-testing for the first part of the course, especially chapters 3 and 4 on the topic of light. In fact, this is the time when you should study most consistently. If you master this background material, later chapters will seem much less obscure.