Dr. Mary Lou West, 244 Richardson Hall, 973-655-7266
Office hours: M4, R11:30, R4, and by appointment
e-mail:westm@mail.montclair.edu
http://www.csam.montclair.edu/~west
Math Sci / Physics , Montclair State University, 973-655-5132

ASTRONOMY (PHYS-280): Spring 2007, 4 sh


M 8:15-10:45 PM, T 9:15-10:55 PM in RI-261

Textbook: "Universe" by Roger Freedman and William Kaufmann III, 7th Edition
Week, Mon. Topic and Reading Lab Exercise (Monday)

The Solar System
1, T, Jan 16 Overview (Ch 1, 2) #1 Celestial Sphere
2, Jan 22 Gravity, Light (Ch 4, 5) #2 Constellations on computer
3, Jan 29 Solar System (Ch 7, 8), HW #1 #3 Asteroid Impacts
4, Feb 5Earth (Ch 9) #4 Polynesian Navigators
5, Feb 12 Moon, Mercury, Venus (Ch 10, 11, 12) #5 Moon's Surface
6, Feb 19 Nancy Pi-Sunyer "Terraforming Mars - and Teaching the Concept", Mars (Ch 13)HW #2 #6 Comparative Planetology
7, Feb 26 Outer Planets (Ch 14,15,16) #7 Jupiter's Moons

Stars and Deep Space

8, Mar 5 HW #3 Midterm Test (Ch 1,2,4,5,7-13,15,16) on T
-- Mar 12 SPRING BREAK
9, Mar 19 Sun (Ch 18), Stars (Ch 19) #8 Sunspots
10, Mar 26 Life of Stars (Ch 20, 21) #9 Stellar Spectra
11, Apr 2 Death of Stars (Ch 22-24), HW #4 #10 H-R Diagram of a Star Cluster
12, Apr 9 The Milky Way (Ch 25) #11 Pulsars
13, Apr 16 Galaxies (Ch 26, 27), HW #5 #12 Other Galaxies, Papers due
14, Apr 23 Cosmology (Ch 28, 29) Student Reports
15, Apr 30 HW #6, Review on M; no Tuesday class

Exam: Monday, May 7, 8:15 PM (Cumulative, but mainly Ch. 18-28)

Dates may change due to unforeseen circumstances. Changes will be announced, and it is the responsibility of the student to keep informed.

PUBLIC TELESCOPE NIGHTS: 8-9 PM every clear Thursday from January 18 to May 3 (except for March 15) in front of Richardson Hall. Come to observe the moon, planets, constellations and nebulae. The moon will be featured on January 25, February 1, 22, March 1, 29, and April 26. Saturn will be visible February through May. Total Lunar eclipse, Saturday March 3, 6-8 PM.
There will be NO Public Telescope Night if it is cloudy, or extremely cold or windy. It is considered clear if you can see the moon or 10 stars clearly.
We will also have telescopes at Riker Hill Art Park in Livingston in March (date TBD), 7:30-11 PM.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Midterm test (March 6), final exam (May 7), a 3000 word typed paper (about 10-12 pages) on any astronomical topic (due April 16), 11 lab reports (out of 12 labs), an individual or pair observation project and an oral report on your project (April 23), an individual demonstration, a look through a telescope, and homework every other week or so.
Your course grade is composed of 10% class participation and homework, 25% midterm test, 20% paper, 11% lab reports, 10% individual project, 3% individual demonstration, 1% sky observation with our CCD camera and telescope, and 20% final exam. The test questions will be short answer, problem, and essay. The paper is the required writing-assignment-in-the-major.
Homework problems and labs should be done together, but written up in your own words.

The night sky is beautiful, it follows laws, and our understanding grows in scope and elegance. Let's explore the universe together!

This page is http://www.csam.montclair.edu/~west/ast280/ast280outline.html

Mary Lou West