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A301 Homepage Astro 301/ Spring 2005 / 46690

Introduction to Astronomy

Course Overview

Instructor: Professor Shardha Jogee
Teaching Assistants: Nick Sterling and Nairn Baliber
Venue: MWF, 12-1, Welch 3.502

Course Description: This document includes: Course objectives -- Course Pre-Requisites -- Course Textbook -- Grades, Exams and Homework Policy -- Class Rules -- Help Sessions -- Office Hours of Professor and TAs -- Telescope and Observing.

Course Syllabus: This document provides an approximate syllabus of the topics we will cover in class, along with some of the recommended reading. Additional reading may be given as the class proceeds and will be posted below.

Online grades from e-gradebook for quiz, homeworks, exams and other assignments.

Current Announcements

Final grades will be posted online (egradebook) on May 16. The final grade is coded as 1=A, 2=B, 3=C, 4-D, and 5=F. You can pick the graded exam and left-over homeworks from the teaching assistants, either by appointment or during their office hours by May 20,2005. Nick Sterling (Office: RLM 17.312; Hours: F 1-2; Phone: (512) 471-7418; Email: sterling@astro.as.utexas.edu) and Nairn Baliber (Office: RLM 16.308: Hours: Tu 1-2, Th 3-4: Phone (512) 471-3453; Email: baliber@astro.as.utexas.edu)

List of students with extra credit for class participation in the second half-semester (Last Update = May 16, 2005).

Review topics for the exam (text, updated). For the section entitled, "The Universe: Its Beginning and its Possible Fates", you only need to review the five topics marked as (**).

How to improve your grades and get extra credit?
(1) If you answer questions correctly and generally participate in class, then you can get extra credit by giving me your name at the end of the lecture. The extra credit (up to 15%) will be added to your final grades. (2) Learn to use the Painter Hall Telescope and ask the training assistant (usually Lara Eakins) to give you a note certifying that you took the trainnig session and are certified to operate the telescope. See details under Course Description. I will give you extra credit if you bring me the note by Mon May 16. (3) Review your homeworks early and come to us EARLY for help on sections that are difficult or unclear to you. Homeworks count for 50% of the total grade and the exams follow the homeworks.

Selected Lecture Notes and Assignements

The selected material posted below represent only parts of the lecture, such as figures and a few notes. The main explanations, notes, movies, and demos will be covered only in class where extra credit will be given for participation.

Lecture 1 (W Jan 19/2005) ; Lecture 2 (F Jan 21/2005)

Lecture 3 (M Jan 24/2005) ; Lecture 4 (W Jan 26/2005) ; In-class quiz (txt) (F Jan 28/2005) ;
Movie "Variations in Sunlight flux incident on N and S hemispheresy during the Seasons"

Lecture 5 (M Jan 31/2005) ; Lecture 6 (W Feb 2/2005) ; Lecture 7 (F Feb 4/2005)

Lecture 8+9+10 (MWF Feb 7,9,11/2005)

Lecture 11 (M Feb 14/2005) ; Lecture 12 (W Feb 16/2005) ; Lecture 13 (F Feb 18/2005)

Lecture 14 (M Feb 21/2005) ; Lecture 15 (W Feb 23/2005) ; Lecture 16 (F Feb 25/2005)
Reading Material: LA Times Article (23 Feb 2005) on Hubble (pdf) (W Feb 23/2005)

Lecture 17 (M Feb 28/2005) ; Lecture 18 (W Mar 2/2005) ; Lecture 19 (F Mar 4/2005)

Lecture 20 (M Mar 21/2005) ; Lecture 21 (W Mar 23/2005)

Lecture 23 (M Mar 28/2005) ; Lecture 24 (W Mar 30/2005) ; Lecture 25 (F Apr 1/2005)

Lecture 26 (M Apr 4/2005) ; Lecture 27 (W Apr 6/2005) ; Lecture 28 (F Apr 8/2005)

Lecture 29+30+31 (M Apr 11 + W Apr 13 + Fri Apr 15)

Reading Article for Homework 7 (M Apr 18/2005)

Lecture 32 (M Apr 18/2005) ; Lecture 33 (W Apr 20/2005); Lecture 34 (W Apr 22/2005)

Lecture 35 (M Apr 25/2005) ; Lecture 36 (W Apr 27/2005); Lecture 37 (F Apr 29/2005)

Lecture 38 (M May 2/2005)

Some Cool Pictures

Below are some cool pictures, some taken from my research, that tie in to the questions we are discussing in class

In 2004, as part of HUDF team, we planned and carried out observations lasting one million-seconds of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF), the deepest visible-light image ever made of the Universe. These panels (Credit: NASA, ESA, S Beckwith and the HUDF team) from the HUDF reveal the first galaxies to emerge from the so-called "dark ages," the time shortly after the big bang when the first stars reheated the cold, dark universe Almost every panel shows oddball-shaped galaxies engaged in violent interactions with their neighbors and chronicles a period when the universe was younger and more chaotic. Order and structure were just beginning to emerge. The HUDF offers new insights into the origin, structure, and merger history of galaxies as they evolve onto and off the Hubble sequence, and sets constraints on what types of objects reionized the universe long ago.