Astronomy 25 - Main web page

Website last updated: Saturday, June 13, 2009 at 8:40 am.

Videos are ready. Here is the link to the page that will have all class videos.

Download Adobe Reader (Free) to be able to view PDF files.

A link to MasteringAstronomy.com - an excellent online resource.

As of 9:30 am, Wednesday, February 18, the correct textbooks are available from the ECC bookstore.

Class Information:

Textbook Information

Textbook: We will use The Cosmic Perspective: Stars, Galaxies and Cosmology, 5th edition, by Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, and Voit. There is the "regular" edition and a newer Media Update. Either is acceptable for our classes. The book should cost approximately $80 and is only available as paperback. You may choose to purchase the full version of The Cosmic Perspective instead, which costs approximately $130. The alternate text includes material about stars, galaxies, cosmology (e.g. Big Bang) and other parts of the universe that will not be covered in this class. If you plan to take astronomy 25 with me, or any lab class, you may wish to purchase the full version.

You will also need to purchase the workbook titled Lecture Tutorials for Introductory Astronomy, 2^nd edition (black cover) by Prather, Slater, Adams, and Brissenden. This book will come bundled with text #1 if purchased new from ECC’s bookstore. It costs approximately $30 if purchased separately.

Section 1073
Room: Planetarium
Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:45pm-4:10pm.
Send the entire section an email.

Section 1075
Room: Planetarium
Tuesdays from 6pm-9:10pm.
Send the entire section an email.

Important announcements 

• Added 2/18: Homework assignment #3 (assigned during the first week and for once-a-week classes, on the first day) requires the textbook. I've copied the important information from the book into the following document. Word. PDF. See also the assignments page.
• Added 3/6 Test 1 will be on Tuesday night, March 10, at the end of class for the Tuesday night class and on Wednesday 3/11 for the Mon-Wed class.
• Added 3/15 All test dates have been chosen. See the handouts page. (Document to be posted soon.)

• Added 3/17 TEST #1 REWRITE questions that are NOT eligible for rewrite points. Test #1 was graded out of 45 points.

  Green: 4, 11, 15, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 38, 40, 42
  Pink: 4, 8, 15, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 39, 41, 42
  Yellow: 4, 9, 15, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 39, 41, 42
  Blue: 4, 7, 15, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 38, 41, 42

• Added 3/30 TEST #2 REWRITE questions that are NOT eligible for rewrite points. Test #2 was graded out of 34 points.

  Green: 17, 18, 28, 36, 37
  Pink: 17, 18, 28, 36, 37
  Yellow: 15, 18, 28, 36, 37
  Blue: 17, 18, 28, 36, 37

• Added 4/4 and revised 4/6 Test 3 has been postponed until after Spring Break. The Monday-Wednesday class voted to have the test on the Wednesday after Spring Break.

• Added 4/6 The PowerPoints page has been updated.

• Added 4/9 Test #3 will be the week after Spring Break. It will cover up through and including the top slide on page 6 of the Light/Chapter 5 handout (the 7 types of light). On the Unit 3 study guide, the following questions will be covered in unit 4 (i.e. Test #4) instead of unit 3. Chapter 5, end of chapter questions 6, 12, 15, 36, 44, and three Think About It, and the second Lecture Tutorial.

• Added 4/10 Information about the annual NASA Jet Propulsion Lab Open House, an opportunity for up to triple extra credit.

• Added 4/27 TEST #3 REWRITE questions that are NOT eligible for rewrite points. Test #3 was graded out of 50 points.

  All colors: 1, 2, 18, 20, 45. (Not too many pure fact questions this time.)

• Added 5/6 Ranking Tasks practice exercises have been added to the handouts page (at the bottom). Test 4 will be either Tuesday May 12 or Wednesday, May 13 depending on which section you're in. It will cover the material in chapter 5 and the "light" packet. The study guide has this material incorrectly separated into "unit 3" and "unit 4." The test will cover ALL material from chapter 5.

• Videos are back online!

• Added 5/15 TEST #4 REWRITE questions that are NOT eligible for rewrite points. Test #4 was graded out of 50 points.  For ALL sections, it will be due on Friday, May 29.
  Yellow: 5, 10, 11, 12, 14, 18, 20
  Blue: 4, 10, 11, 12, 14, 18, 20

 Office Hours:

Office hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 10am-11am, Fridays 2pm-3pm, and Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:45-5:45pm. Or by appointment or just stop by!

Office location: Physics 117F. Go to my home page for a campus map (or see the syllabus, below.)

Syllabus:

Syllabus.  Word. PDF. (See link above to view PDF files)

Other Course Material:

Consult the: handouts web page, assignments web page, and the PowerPoints web page.

Fun (and possibly helpful) information:

1. Added 6/13/2009 A quick video showing sizes of planets, stars, and our galaxy. Enjoy!
2. Your zodiacal sign -- then and now. Word. PDF.  (revised 3/10)
3. Added 9/16/2008 A YouTube video of How to Read Peoples' Minds.
4. Added 9/15/2008 Scanned file of a Moon hoax article, taken from Smithsonian magazine. Here is the JPG file.
5. Added 9/15/2008 Badastronomy blog entries describing brand new discovery of a planet around a Sun-like star, and the first image of a planet around a failed star (brown dwarf). Both entries put in Word and PDF formats.
6. YouTube movie showing relative sizes of planets and stars.

Online Resources:

Links used during class:

1. Lunacy on the Moon: TV commercial.
2. Powers of 10 animation -- size of atoms through galaxies
3. Link 1. Link 2. Kepler's laws links. Both require Java to be installed.

Other useful links:

1. Added 5/3/09 Emission spectra of all elements on the periodic table.
2. Added 3/15/09 Astronomy Vocabulary definitions link.
3. Added 3/15/09 Stellar evolution movies link. (Use Beginner page)
4. Time-lapse movies of the Sun. Shorter WMV (26 pics). Longer WMV (4 megabytes, 365 pics, you might want to save this file to your computer rather than running it)
5. A link demonstrating evolution of high mass stars.
6. Thinking of buying a telescope for a loved one? Check out what the Bad Astronomer says. Read his links in the middle and bottom, too!
7. NASA pictures of everything you can imagine
8. Astronomy Picture of the Day -- includes a searchable database (very useful!)
9. Bad Astronomy -- Moon landing, hoaxes, common errors, astronomy in movies
10. Moon Phases -- Try the "Tool and Quiz" at the bottom of this web page if we're taking a test on phases.
11. Nineplanets.org -- a GREAT discussion of most things related to solar-system astronomy.