| INSTRUCTOR: | Dr. Derek Wills, Professor of Astronomy (RLM 17.204, 471-1392, e-mail address 007@astro.as.utexas.edu) |
| TA: | Lara Cross, astronomy graduate student (RLM 16.216, 471-0445, e-mail address lcross@astro.as.utexas.edu) |
| TEXTBOOK: | Discovering the Universe, by W.J. Kaufmann III and Neil F. Comins (4th edition -- with or without the free CD-ROM) |
| OFFICE HOURS: | Mine are TTh 2:00-3:30 p.m., and Lara's are MW 3:00-4:00. If you can't come during these times, please ask us for an appointment at another time. |
| GRADES: | There will be four in-class multiple-choice tests and an optional comprehensive final, all of equal length -- the best four of these determine your course grade. This grading system will not be changed -- there are no term papers, and no "extra credit" work at the last minute. The test dates are 9/19, 10/15, 11/7, and the last class day, 12/5. The final exam is 12/12, 2:00-5:00 p.m. (the date and time set by UT). You don't need to take the final exam if you are happy with your grades on the four in-class tests; treat it just like a fifth test except that (a) it is comprehensive, and (b) UT rules give you three hours in which to do it. If you had to miss an earlier test because of illness, forgetfulness, or whatever, the final is obviously worth taking -- you can never lower your grade by taking it, since you don't count it if you did better on the other four tests. |
| EXAMS: | These are based on material in the lectures, so study your notes when you prepare for tests, rather than trying to memorize the book, which should be treated as a useful supplement to the lectures, not as a replacement. Make-up tests will not normally be given since you can miss one test and still count the other four for your course grade. I will hold a help session the evening before each test; attendance is voluntary but strongly recommended. Please be warned that I do not tolerate cheating on tests -- the minimum penalty for this is an F in the course. Please bring photo IDs to the tests. |
| HOMEWORK: | There is no formal graded homework in this course. I will occasionally hand out some "review questions" that will test you on the material and which should be good practice for taking the tests. Our TA will hold a help session for each set of review questions; these are voluntary but recommended. I will post answers to the review questions about a week after I hand out the questions. |
| MATHEMATICS: | The tests are mainly non-mathematical, and, in any case, all of the techniques you need will be demonstrated in class. The type of math we will use should have been done in high school, even if you have forgotten it! |
| GENERAL COMMENTS: | Keep up with the material as we go through the course. In this way you will be better prepared for the tests; just coasting along and then trying to memorize words from the textbook the night before a test is a sure way to disaster. If you are not understanding the material, please come along to our office hours and discuss your problems with us. The later you leave it, the harder it will be to catch up. We want you to enjoy this course, but that takes effort from you as well as from us. It is imperative that you come to class and pay attention (rather than just mindlessly copying down what gets written on the board) if you are to understand the course material. |
| DROPPING: | As with all UT courses, the last date for a free drop is 9/24. Between then and 10/22 you drop with a Q (free drop) or an F (fail), depending on your grade at that point. So long as you have taken all the tests when you want to drop, I will give you a free drop until 10/22. |
| STAR PARTIES: | The 9-inch telescope on Painter Hall is open on Friday and Saturday evenings, and if you are interested in using it by yourself, I can give you details of what to do. We also have weekly (Wednesday) star parties on the 14th level roof of RLM. |
| MAIN TOPICS | CHAPTER |
| scales and sizes, angles; parallax, the parsec (also pp. 226-227). | I |
| Earth's motions, seasons, precession, solar vs. sidereal time; the moon's orbit and phases (rotation and tides, pp. 127-128), eclipses | 1 |
| planetary motions, sidereal/synodic periods, Kepler's laws; mass and weight, Newton's laws, gravity, orbits | 2 |
| the EM spectrum (waves vs. photons), telescopes (optical, radio) | 3 |
| black-body radiation laws, spectral lines, the Bohr atom, the Doppler effect | 4 |
| the solar system -- individual planets and satellites, asteroids, meteors and comets. This will be done more briefly than in the book, and perhaps not at all if time is short. Read for your own interest, anyway! | 5-8 |
| stellar spectra and luminosities; the H-R diagram, binary stars, masses, radii, mass-luminosity relation; the sun, nuclear fusion | 10, (9) |
| birth of stars -- formation and evolution, star clusters | 11 |
| death of stars -- white dwarfs, supernovae, pulsars | 12 |
| black holes | 13 |
| our galaxy -- size, structure, mass, contents | 14 |
| other galaxies, Hubble's law | 15 |
| cosmology -- the background radiation, the future of the Universe | 17 |
| quasars and active galaxies (if we have time) | 16 |
The tests are multiple-choice, with 32 5-answer questions. I expect A/B/C/D to correspond to 25/21/17/13 correct answers. I may not keep rigorously to these numbers, but that's the intention, and I will let you know if anything changes. To make A/B/C/D, your average over four tests will need to be 25/21/17/13, which equates to a total of 100/84/68/52 on your best four tests. If you are happy with your total points after the four tests, you don't need to take the final, and you can never make your grade worse by taking it. Those who have accumulated a total of 100 points on the four in-class tests already have an A and can go home early for Christmas. If you had one bad test, or you overslept or forgot about an earlier test, you can make up for it by taking the final. If you are taking the course CR/F, you need only a D (52 total points) in order to receive CR.