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Astronomy
Tahquitz High School
Instructor:
J. Trimm
Email:
[email protected]
Class:
Room 510
Assigned Textbook:
Astronomy: Journey to the Cosmic Frontier, 5e, Fix, McGraw Hill, 2008
Purpose of the Course:
Students are to understand the history and development of important concepts in the field of astronomy
such as the debate between the Earth-centered and Sun-centered models of the solar system and the
discovery of the expansion of the Universe. You will learn about the scale, structure, and origin of the
Universe from the largest scale down to the formation, structure and evolution of individual stars. We will
include a brief (and mostly non-mathematical) survey of the Big Bang and Relativity theories and the role
of space-time, mass-energy, and the four fundamental forces that shape the Universe we see before us.
Closer to home, we will seek to understand the formation and evolution of a typical solar system including
the major types of objects found in a typical solar system such as planets, moons, comets, and asteroids.
Course Structure:
Lecture Days:
Lecture days are times for me to review, clarify, and enhance what you have read in the text prior to
the lecture. Participating in class is required. You will be asked to have prepared one to four
questions based upon the reading assignment. At the end of class you will be given time to write out
your answers based upon what you have learned. This assignment will be turned in before you leave
class each day.
Exams:
Exams are open-note and will follow the lecture very closely. Please note that “open-note” does not
equate to “Easy A.” Each test is given at the end of a chapter and will be worth 100 points, there
will be 15 to 25 multiple choice questions (worth 50 points) and 4 short answer (worth 50 points).
You will need to answer the entire set of question in order to get a passing grade. There will also be
a Semester final that will cover all chapters covered in that Semester.
Grading Summary:
 Projects (normally 2 a semester) worth 25 % of your grade
 Homework/Classwork (normally 4 a week) worth 25% of your grade
 Notebooks (Cornell Style, graded 2 times a semester) Worth 15% of your grade
 Test (at the end of chapters and a final) worth 25% of your grade
 Participation is worth 10% of your grade
Classroom Expectations:
 Late work is graded with reduced point value, full credit if completed during the chapter and a loss
of 25% of points for each chapter late. (50% will be given to all work turned no matter how late)
 I expect that everyone will read the assigned material and complete each week’s assignments in a
timely manner.
 Be on time
 Turn your cell phone off.
 Everyone deserves to be heard – please be quiet while others are speaking, and they will return the
courtesy to you.
Course Agenda:
1) Lecture: The Obvious View of the Sky
a. Daily motion: Sun, Moon, and Stars
b. Coordinate systems: Alt-Az, RA-Dec
c. Measuring angles in the sky
d. Lunar orbit and phases
e. Eclipses
f. Motion of the Planets
g. Reading: Chapter 1 & 2 (pg 3-31)
h. Exercises: know the ‘Key Terms’, pg 13 & 33, Questions and Problems pg 14 – all, and
pg 33-34 – choose 8
2) Lecture: Ancient and Renaissance Astronomy
a. Henge and pyramid astronomy & time keeping in the Ancient World
b. The Geocentric System: Aristotle, Ptolemy, et al
c. Improved instruments and the collapse of the Geocentric System
d. The Heliocentric System of Copernicus
e. Telescopic astronomy – Galileo confirms the Geocentric theory
f. Laws of planetary motion – Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler
g. Reading: Chapter 3 & 4 (pg 37-74)
h. Exercises: know key terms pg 54 & 76, Questions and Problems pg 54-55 – choose 8,
Questions and Problems pg 76-77 – choose 8
3) Lecture: Gravitation, orbits, and Newton’s kinematics
a. Aristotle and Galileo – physics before Newton
b. Aristotle and Kepler – planetary motion before Newton
c. Newton’s laws of motion – Law of Inertia, Law of Force, Law of Action-Reaction
d. Law of Universal Gravitation and Inverse Square Rule
e. Role of a central force in planetary motion
f. Pendulum demo
g. Round billiard table demo
h. Newton’s Canon – the satellite concept
i. The Apple and the Moon – proving the Moon is in free-fall orbit around Earth
j. Orbital dynamics – the elliptical orbit
k. Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion
l. Gravitational interactions: Tides and the Moon, the 3-body problem
m. Reading: Chapter 5 (pg 80 – 96) NB: section 5.4 is optional.
n. Exercises: Know key terms pg 97, questions and problems pg 97 & 98 – choose 10
4) Lecture: Essential Optics: Understanding Light and Telescopes
a. Huygens and Newton: the Wave and Particle theories of Light
b. EM Flux and Distance (illumination)
c. Energy and Wavelength – the EM Spectrum
d. Reflection: Plane and Curved Mirrors (ray diagrams)
e. Refraction: Prisms and Thin Lenses (ray diagrams)
f. Classifying images: Erect/inverted, magnified/reduced, real/virtual
g. The Galilean Refractor Telescope
h. The Newtonian Reflector Telescope
i. Reading: Chapter 6 (pg 101-115)
j. Exercises: Know key terms, pg 127; questions and problems, pg 128 – choose 10
5) Lecture: Welcome to Luna
a. Revolution and Synchronous Rotation
b. Synodic and Sidereal months
c. Lunar orbit geometry and Eclipse seasons
d. Solar Eclipses again – Umbra and Penumbra, total and partial eclipses
e. Features of the Lunar Surface
f. Crater and Maria Formation
g. Age and Composition of the Lunar Surface
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
h. Origin of the Moon – Multiple Theories
i. Reading: Chapter 9 (pg 181-202)
j. Exercises: Know key terms, pg 203; questions and problems, pg 203-04 – choose 10
Lecture: Mars: The Living Planet?
a. Historical Exploration of Mars: Schiaparelli, Wells, Lowell, and Welles
b. The Dry Mars Theory and Mariner Photographs, c. 1965
c. The Viking Program: Orbiter, Lander, and Biology Experiments
d. The Mars Meteorite: possible extra-terrestrial micro-fossils
e. The Rovers: Pathfinder, Spirit, and Opportunity
f. The Wet Mars Theory
g. Recent Discoveries
h. The Phoenix Probe
i. Colonization – Why We Must Settle Mars for all Humanity’s Sake
j. Reading: Chapter 11 (pg 233-260)
k. Exercises: Know key terms – pg 262, questions and problems, pg 262-63 – choose 10
Lecture: Jovian Planets – The Gas Giants
a. What makes a Jovian World
b. Differential Rotation and Surface Features
c. Banded Atmospheres, Zonal Flow Structures, and Hurricanes
d. Vertical Structure of the Atmosphere
e. Internal Structure and Magnetosphere
f. Ring Systems and the Roche Effect
g. Moon Systems – Co-formed and Captured
h. Extra-solar Jovians
i. Reading: Chapter 12 (pg 266-287)
j. Exercises: Know key terms – pg 287, questions and problems, pg 288 – choose 10
Lecture: Hadal Planets, Comets, and Asteroids
a. Discovery of the Binary Planet: Pluto-Charon – 1930 and 1978
b. Failure of the “Dwarf Planet” hypothesis (Why Pluto is a planet)
c. The Kuiper Belt and Oort cloud – Cometary Reservoirs
d. Cometary Origins of Water on Terrestrial Planets
e. The Asteroid Belt – The Planet that Never Was
f. Meteors and Impactors – The Schaaf Scale
g. Impactors and Planetary and Biological Evolution
h. Reading: Chapter 15 (pg 342-367)
i. Exercises: Know key terms – pg 368, questions and problems, pg 368 – choose 10
Lecture: Basic Properties of Stars
a. Distance to the Stars – Parallax Method
b. Proper Stellar Motion – Radial and Transverse
c. Stellar Brightness: Absolute and Apparent Magnitude Scales
d. Stellar Spectra: Kirchhoff lines and the Doppler Effect
e. Mass vs. Luminosity: The H-R Diagram and Stellar Evolution
f. A Yellow Dwarf named Sol – Properties of our Sun
g. Reading: Chapters 16 & 17 (pg 371-417)
h. Exercises: Know key terms – pg 391 & 417, questions and problems, pg 392 – choose
eight; questions and problems, pg 418 – choose 8.
Lecture: Formation of Stars and Planets
a. LaPlace and the Nebular Theory
b. Essential requirements of a successful theory of solar system formation
c. Molecular Clouds and Protostars
d. Dusty Disks and Planet Formation by Accretion
e. Auto-poiesis: Self-Assembly and the Gaia Hypothesis
f. The Formation of Life
g. Reading: Chapter 18 (pg 422-431)
h. Exercises: know key terms – pg 436, questions and problems, pg 436-37 – choose 10
11) Lecture: Death of a Star: White Dwarfs, Neutron Stars, and Black Holes
a. The White Dwarf and Electron Degeneracy
b. White Dwarf evolution
c. Chandrasekhar’s Limit and the Neutron Star
d. The Supernova
e. Curved Spacetime and Einstein’s Gravitation
f. The Black Hole, Spacetime, and Time Travel into the Future
g. Reading: Chapter 20 (pg 466-486)
h. Exercises: know key terms – pg 488; questions and problems, pg 488-89 – choose 10
12) Lecture: Binary Star Systems
a. Types of Binary Systems and How to Detect Them
b. Formation of Wide and Closely Spaced Binary Systems
c. Evolution of Close Binaries
d. Binaries with Compact Objects
e. Accretion Disks and Binary Systems
f. Binary Systems Containing Black Holes or Neutron Stars
g. Reading: Chapter 21 (pg 491-509)
h. Exercises: know key terms – pg 513; questions and problems, pg 513-14 – choose 10
13) Lecture: The Milky Way Galaxy
a. Interstellar Matter: Gas & Dust
b. The Shape and Size of the Milky Way
c. Rotation of Galaxies and the Rotation Curve
d. Causes and Effects of the Spiral Structure of the Galaxy
e. The Galactic Center and the Zone of Habitability
f. Galactic Evolution and Galaxy Collisions
g. Reading: Chapter 22 (pg 517-554)
h. Exercises: Know key terms – pg 545; questions and problems, pg 546-47 – choose 10
14) Lecture: Galaxies and the Expanding Universe
a. Hubble and the Discovery of Galaxies
b. One Shift, Two Shift; Red Shift, Blue Shift
c. Spectroscopy, Red Shift, and the Expansion of the Universe
d. Types of Galaxies: Spiral, Elliptical, Irregular, Dwarf
e. The Cosmic Distance Scale
f. Large Scale Structure of the Universe
g. The Big Bang and the Four Forces
h. Universe or Multiverse?
i. Reading: Chapter 23 (pg 549-564)
j. Exercises: Know key terms – pg 567; questions and problems, pg 568-69 – choose 10