Calendar for Astronomy 102, Autumn 2008 (updated weekly with new links)

• Week 1: Sept. 24th - Introduction, Syllabus Lecture 1 [20 MB]
• Week 2:
  • Mon, Sept. 29th & Wednesday Oct. 1 - Units of Measure Lecture 2 [6 MB]; Acceleration, Forces & Energy Lecture 2-3 [9 MB]; Gravity Lecture 3 [2 MB]
  • Reading: Chapter 1, Appendix C; Chapter 4
  • Homework: Scientific notation (Tuesday, Sept. 30, in section); Mastering Astronomy Assignment 1 (Friday, Oct. 3)
• Week 3:
  • Oct. 6 & 8 - Atoms & Matter Lecture 4 [8 MB]; Energy & Light Lecture 4-5 [7 MB]; Spectra - Emission & Absorption Lecture 5 [5 MB]
  • Reading: Chapters 5 & (optional) 6 & 7
  • Homework: Mastering Astronomy Assignment 2 (Due Monday, Oct. 6th); Mastering Astronomy 3 (Due Wednesday, Oct. 8th)
• Week 4:
  • Oct. 13 & 15 - Stellar Spectra Lecture 6 [10 MB]; Stellar Properties, Brightness & Distance Lecture 6-7 [8 MB]; Energy Production in Stars Lecture 7 [2.6 MB]
  • Reading: 15.1, 14.1-14.2
  • Homework: Mastering Astronomy 4 (Due Monday, Oct. 13th), Mastering Astronomy 5 (Due Wednesday, Oct. 15th)
  • Links: Harvard Computers; Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
• Week 5:
  • Oct. 20 & 22 - Stellar Structure Lecture 8 [5 MB]; Patterns among Stars Lecture 8-9 [9 MB]; Evolution of Stars Lecture 9 [5.5 MB]
  • Reading: 15.2-15.3, 17
  • Homework: Mastering Astronomy 6 (Due Wednesday, Oct. 22)
  • Links: Star Sizes Video ; Sloan Digital Sky Survey article from last week; Stellar Seismology
• Week 6:
  • Oct. 27 & 29 - White Dwarfs, midterm review Lecture 10 [12 MB]; Midterm Exam on Wednesday, October 29th Midterm Review Sheet; Practice problems can be found at Mastering Astronomy.
  • Midterm Grades (sorted by last 4 digits of student ID). I made the last problem (34) extra credit as well, so the exam was worth 95 points. Midterm Solution. Mean: 72.9/95 (77%, or 2.7 if your entire grade were based on midterm); median score is 81/95 (85%, or 3.2).
  • Reading: 18.1
• Week 7:
  • Nov. 3 & 5 - Neutron Stars, Supernovae Lecture 11 [22 MB]; Pulsars, Black Holes Lecture 11-12 [4.5 MB]
  • Reading: 17.3, 18.2-18.3, S3.1-3.3
  • Homework: Mastering Astronomy 7 (Due Wednesday, Nov. 5th)
• Week 8:
  • Nov. 10 & 12 - Galaxies Lecture 13 [7.5 MB]; Dark Matter Lecture 13-14 [7.5 MB]; Gravitational Lensing, Clusters Lecture 14 [7 MB]
  • Reading: 20.1, 22.1-22.2, 21.1-21.2
  • Homework: Mastering Astronomy Assignment 8 (Due Wednesday, Nov. 12; EXTENDED TO THURS, NOV. 13)
• Week 9:
  • Nov. 17 & 19 - Cosmic Distances Lecture 15 [6 MB]; Hubble Law & Structure of the Universe Lecture 15-16 [7 MB]; Hubble Law & Expansion of Universe Lecture 16 [1.4 MB]
  • Reading: 15.1, 20.2-20.3, 22.3
  • Homework: Mastering Astronomy Assignment 9 (Due Wednesday, Nov. 19)
  • Movies from lecture: Fly through Sloan Digital Sky Survey ; Formation of structure in Universe; Origin of Hubble Law (raisin cake & space-time diagram can be found in Mastering Astronomy under the "Interactive Figures" tab in the lower left).
  • PBS special on Astronomy "The Journey To Palomar" airs Monday, Nov. 17th, 10pm, KCTS Channel 9
  • Planetarium Show Nov. 19th
• Week 10:
  • Nov. 24 & 26 - The Big Bang Lecture 17 [5 MB] & birth of Eli McKean Agol (UT JD 2454796.16667, with a mass of 2.238 x 10^-30 Solar masses, and length 1.749 x 10^-17 parsecs) CCD image; Cosmic Background & Geometry of Universe Lecture 18 [8.7 MB]
  • Reading: 22.4, 23.1-23.2
  • Article in Today's (Tuesday's) New York Times on Dark Matter!
• Week 11:
  • Dec. 1 & 3 - Dark Energy & Inflation Lecture 19 [5.8 MB]; Supermassive Black Holes Lecture 18-19 [5.6 MB]; Final Exam Review Review sheet
  • Reading: 22.4 (review), 23.3, 19.4, 21.3
  • Homework: There are final exam practice problems on Mastering Astronomy.
  • Planetarium Show Dec. 3rd
  • Movies from lecture: Stars orbiting Galactic Center black hole; Merger of two galaxies
• Final Exam: Monday, December 08, 2008, 8:30-10:20am, BNS 117
  Final Grades