.pdfs of the lecture slides, in-class activities and handouts will be posted here AFTER the class meets.
Unit 1 – Celestial Motions
Week 1 – September 5 and 7
Tues Sept 5 – Intro to class
Handouts: Syllabus, Syllabus Quiz, ABCD Card
Thurs Sept 7 – Maps of the Night Sky
Handouts: Intro to Observations Lab, Night Sky Map, “Fist and Finger” Measurement Guide
Week 2 – September 12 and 14
Tues September 12 – Daily and Yearly Motions of the Sky
Thurs September 14 – The Reasons for Seasons
Week 3 – September 19 and 21
Tues September 19 – Yearly Motions of the Sun
Handouts: Homework 3 Observing Instructions
Thurs September 21 – Moon Phases
Handouts: Moon Phases Lab
Week 4 – September 26 and 28
Tues September 26 – Eclipses
Thurs September 28 – Solar System Size and Scale activities (content will not appear on midterm)
Unit 2 – Our Solar System
Week 5 – October 3 and 5
Tues October 3 – Midterm #1
Thurs October 5 – Geocentric and Heliocentric Models of the Solar System
Week 6 – October 12 (no class October 10)
Thurs October 12 – Kepler’s laws
Week 7 – October 17 and 19
Tues October 17 – Newton’s Laws
Handouts: Jupiter’s Moons Lab, data sheet
October 19 – Jupiter’s Moons lab activity
Week 8 – October 24 and 26
Tues October 24 – Formation of the Solar System
Thurs October 26 – Cratering and Resurfacing
Week 9 – October 31 and November 2
Tues October 31 – Resurfacing, contd.
Thurs November 2 – Planetary Energy Sources and Energy Balance
Week 10 – November 7 and 9
Tues November 7 – Planetary Atmospheres (content will not appear on midterm)
Handouts: Homework #9 Observing
November 9 – Midterm #2
Unit 3 – Alien Worlds
Week 11 – November 14 and 16
Tues, November 14 – The Doppler Effect and the Radial Velocity Method for Exoplanet Detection
Thurs, November 16 – The Transit Method for Exoplanet Detection
November 21 and 23 off for Thanksgiving
Week 12 – November 28 and 30
Tues November 28 – General Relativity and the Microlensing Method for Exoplanet Detection
Thurs November 30 – The Direct Imaging Method for Exoplanet Detection
Week 13 – December 5 and 7
Tues December 5 – Planet Demographics – What We Know and What We Don’t
Thurs December 7 – Planetary Biosignatures and Life in the Universe
Week 13 – December 12 [finals period begins on 13th]
December 12 – Drake Equation activity