Astronomy

 Summer Semester 2008

Course: PHYS-1070 Astronomy, 4 credit hours
Online Lectures and Labs
 

Instructor:   Andreas Veh

 

Adjunct instructor for this online Astronomy class at
Western Nebraska Community College

Full time assistant professor of Physics at
Kenai Peninsula College

E-mail:

aveh@wncc.net              

aveh@uaa.alaska.edu (preferred)

web site:

http://www.wncc.net/astronomy/

http://chinook.kpc.alaska.edu/~ifafv/

Address: 
 

1601 E. 27th St.
Scottsbluff, NE 69361

34820 College Drive
Soldotna, Alaska 99669

Office Hours:

N.A.

N.A.

Office phone:

1-800-348-4435 (but you can't reach the instructor there)

(907) 262-0366

 

Also included in this "Syllabus" document:

 

Arny textbookTextbook: Arny, Explorations: An Introduction to Astronomy , 4th Edition 

(You should be okay if you buy a different edition or if the cover of your Explorations book looks different.)
Also required: Star finder .
Order both through the Cougar Bookstore at WNCC (1-800-348-4435).
Always have handy: floppy disk, calculator, warm clothes, mosquito repellent, binoculars or telescope (only if you own one).

This course consists of reading the material presented on this and other web sites along with the corresponding chapters in the book.  You also have to do the labs on your own.  I had students in the past who neglected the labs and consequently received a lower grade for the class.

 

 

The course requirements break down as follows.

 


Participation entails that you post comments and answers on the "Bulletin Board" to at least half of the weekly discussion topics and activities (see the M labs), which makes a total of about 12 postings throughout the semester.  Obviously, you can still post your comments after other students have done so.  (This has not been a required element of the course for most past semesters and the current semester too.)

20% 


You do labs on your own either outside during the evening (with starfinder; no telescope or binoculars required), inside with paper and pencil, or online (I have some on my web site and I will refer you to other web sites) .  There are about 30 labs of which you have to complete about 20 (check which 5 labs are definitely required).  Some labs may take only 5 minutes (e.g. A8 Double stars) , others may require subsequent observations for a month (e.g. B1 Phases of Earth’s Moon; B1 and a few others are also labs whose completion is mandatory) .  You may hand in labs at any time.

30% 


Complete about one homework sheet per week and submit via regular mail or "Private Mail" (paste into message; do not attach word processor files) .  About 20 quizzes are taken online: I will give you a topic to study and then you'll take the quiz online.  (All quizzes are accessible all semester long.)  Homework has to be on time.  I'll give a four day leniency and will then post my answers.


25% 
25% 


A midterm and a final exam will be given - set up an appointment with your local library (or the Alliance or Sidney center) to have them proctored there.  Both are online. Proctor form.

Grading:     A > 90% ,   B > 80% ,   C > 70% ,   D > 60% ,   F < 60%  .

This is similar to how the web class home page looks like.

icons
 

This class is probably more innovative than any class that you have taken so far. Besides Arny's "Explorations", our “textbook” is the World Wide Web.  Assignments are made in such a way that you should be able to find what you need.
However, e-mail the instructor at any time (there are 168 hours in the week), I will always help you out, usually the very next day or even within a few hours.

Although you can work on this class at any time you want, we will have deadlines, especially for homework, midterm, and final.  By doing so we avoid a student's possible struggle of trying to cram everything into the last weekend.  We'll usually be more flexible for those labs which depend on the weather.  And I'm also not a strickler and will not take points off when your HW is a few days late (just don't make it a habit).

The Internet also gives us the opportunity to get brand-new images, the latest research, to get to any astronomy site in the world, and to actually come across the real research, none of which can be really covered in an astronomy textbook published the previous year.

I know that this new concept (of using the www as the resource and doing this class online) will cause confusion at first.  I am confident that everybody will master the www after 4 to 6 instruction days.  If there are bugs that we just can’t resolve, e.g. downloading some program, I’m flexible enough to skip such an assignment.

I want people to remember and understand why we have seasons, our moon has phases, eclipses, gravitation - for the rest of your life!
 

The Properly Attired Winter Observer

winter
Reproduced by permission, Copyright 1997, Astronomy magazine .


How to use the Starfinder

starfinder

 

This is basically how a starfinder looks like.  Of course, starfinders from other companies don’t look exactly the same.   (Their prices run from about $3 to $10.)
But all do the same thing: they help us to navigate the sky.

- unfold star finder:  dial -> all stars available close to our latitude
    (use star finder in continental US and middle Europe, more or less usable in Florida, Hawaii, Mexico, Canada, Alaska; but buy another star finder for Australia )

- close star finder:  cut-out oval -> starry sky at given date at given time

- directions NWSE are opposite an Earth's map because you hold the star finder above your head

- Match up date with time
 (today's date and time, name 1 constellation each in N, W, S, E; for practice use another date and time)
   Orion is a winter constellation: Dec 15, Midnight -> South
      March 31, 5 p.m. -> South, but (!) it's daylight
    -> stars are always there, but during the day our own Sun is too bright)

- constellation names in capital letters, very bright stars with lowercase letters

- button of dial:  Polaris/North Star
(always in same position at the altitude = your latitude (Scottsbluff 42 degrees); due North

- middle of oval:  Zenith, straight up

- circumpolar constellations (Ursa Minor (= Little Dipper), Ursa Major (= Big Dipper), Cepheus, Casssiopeia, Draco) -> always observable

- size of stars is deceiving -> only very bright stars (those with names on the star finder) and  constellations are easily recognizable (e.g. Ursa Major, but not Draco or Ophiuchus)

 

SPECIFIC UNIT OBJECTIVES AND COURSE CONTENT:

A student should be able to understand or be able to do the following concepts:
 

First half of the semester

Introduction, gravitation, motions in solar system

  1. contributions of various astronomers throughout the ages (Ptolemy, Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, Herschel, Hubble, etc.)
  2. the geocentric versus the HELIOCENTRIC theory
  3. KEPLER'S and NEWTON'S LAWS, PLANETARY MOTION
  4. time and CALENDARS
  5. distance and vastness, parallax
  6. use celestial COORDINATES to locate objects on the celestial sphere
  7. the patterns of the constellations and location of the brightest stars
  8. cause of SEASONS
  9. precession & the change of the night sky throughout the millennia & the possible cause of ice ages
  10. motion of the MOON, its PHASES, and an explanation of ECLIPSES
  11. the surface features of the moon
  12. the cause and nature of TIDES


Light and Optics

  1. ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
  2. OPTICS: reflection, refraction, and dispersion of light
  3. OPTICS: lenses, mirrors, prisms, and gratings
  4. the construction and characteristics of different types of TELESCOPES
  5. radio telescopes and their contributions to astronomy, IR, UV, x-ray, and gamma-ray astronomy
  6. LIGHTGATHERING
  7. RESOLUTION of optical and radio telescopes
  8. MAGNIFICATION
  9. interferometry


Planets in our solar system

  1. Overview of the SOLAR SYSTEM
  2. PECULIAR PLANETS
  3. interpret planetary data
  4. use of Titius-Bode's Law
  5. the planets' moons
  6. the special properties of asteroids, meteors, and comets
  7. the probable evolution of the solar system

 

Second half of the semester


Light and matter

  1. ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM (repeat)
  2. spectroscopes and kinds of (stellar) SPECTRA
  3. the DOPPLER effect
  4. blackbody, Wien’s law, Stefan's law, inverse-square brightness law
  5. ATOM


Stellar structure and evolution

  1. the structure and physical characteristics of a typical low-mass star: our SUN
  2. the source (NUCLEAR FUSION) of a star's energy
  3. INFORMATION WE GET FROM STARS AND THE CONCLUSIONS WE DRAW
  4. the APPARENT and ABSOLUTE stellar MAGNITUDE system
  5. STELLAR MASSES, LUMINOSITIES, SIZES, TEMPERATURE, COLOR, SPECTRAL CLASSES, AND DISTANCES
  6. BINARY STARS, visual and spectroscopic, and INFORMATION GAINED
  7. the characteristics of the different types of star clusters
  8. stellar population types
  9. the kinds of Cepheid variables and their usefulness to astronomers
  10. variable stars
  11. INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM (ISM)
  12. nebulae visible in our galaxy

STELLAR EVOLUTION

  1. the significance of the H-R DIAGRAM
  2. RED GIANTS, WHITE and black DWARFS, NOVAE, SUPERNOVAE, PULSARS and NEUTRON STARS, and BLACK HOLES

 

 

Possibly these topics as well: 


Galaxies, cosmology

  1. classification of galaxies
  2. magnitudes, dimensions, masses, and distances to galaxies
  3. velocity-distance relationship for galaxies (Hubble law)
  4. cosmology and the Big Bang theory


Space flight

  1. History and future of manned and un-manned SPACEFLIGHT
  2. OBSERVATORIES
  3. current events in Astronomy
  4. benefits and advances for science, technology and industry

 

 

 

All assignments all semester  

assignments

 

 



Initial Letter: Keep this, it is the only information until you have successfully logged on!

Dear Web class student in the PHYS-1070 Astronomy class!

The easiest way to access the class home page:    http://www.wncc.net/astronomy      (you’re then connected to the more current /courses/aveh/), or via WNCC's home page http://www.wncc.net
click on WEB CT, type in your

login and password.    ---    which you don’t have, right?

Get your login and password information from:
- https://www.wncc.net/cgi-bin/wwiz/wwiz.asp?wwizmstr=WEB.GET.LOGIN.INFO
- or www.wncc.net , search for login information


If you have questions e-mail me at      aveh@uaa.alaska.edu (preferred), aveh@wncc.net or call me at    (907) 262-0366.

I have two home pages: a public access one ( http://www.wncc.net/astronomy ) which contains all information - regarding the astronomy lectures, labs and homework.  The other is for the class (the software is from a company called Web CT) and contains the web class features such as “Calendar” (check deadlines, also available on the “Syllabus”), “Bulletin Board” (read all my announcements), “Private Mail” and “Quizzes”.  Please submit completed assignments through “Private Mail” only (unless you need to send a letter); it makes it easier for me to have everybody’s submissions in one place on my computer.

After you logged on successfully, send me a message via “Private Mail” that you’re on.

After this letter you will get all other information through the “Calendar”, “Bulletin Board” and “Private Mail” in our web class.

Scottsbluff’s bookstore will send enough books (T. Arny: Explorations) and starfinders to Sidney and Alliance.  If you are not from the region, contact the WNCC bookstore via WNCC’s 1-800-348-4435.

I hope I told you everything you need to know for now.  (I just did my spell chack - do that two on your HW, pleaze.)

Read the syllabus on my web site carefully, especially the sections on assignments. The amount of work that you need to complete and its degree of difficulty are exactly the same as in my classroom class.
  Make sure that the course suits your needs.  Also, assess if you are self-motivated and disciplined, i.e. if you are cut out for this kind of correspondence / online class.  And, since this is an internet class, some basic knowledge of this medium is necessary.

Yours, Andreas Veh
WNCC Adjunct Astronomy Instructor

If you are living in Western Nebraska or close by:
For Scottsbluff students: Jackie Jacobsen [Multimedia guru].
For Sidney and Alliance students: it’s easier for you to figure stuff out with somebody at your center, such as library, paperwork, internet bugs, computer lab opening hours, etc., etc, etc.

If you have problems logging on right now, send me or Jackie Jacobsen an E-mail, aveh@uaa.alaska.edu (or aveh@wncc.net), jackie@wncc.net, or call her at 1-800-348-4435.

Astronomy questions always go to me.
 



The icons on the WebCT Astronomy home page (you find the same definitions in the glossary), which you see after you logged on successfully:

icons



Read on for a detailed description of these icons (or better: simply start using them in the class).

 

Top row

Calendar

quote from the Glossary: “[…] the monthly calendar […] contains all assignments, deadlines, and special astronomical events relevant to all students in the class.”

Quizzes   

assigned each week, testing a student’s knowledge about material just studied.

Private Mail

this is one of two main modes how instructor and students communicate with each other.  A student submits her/his questions and concerns here, but mainly sends the completed homeworks (HWs) and labs to the instructor.  Students can mail each other too.

Bulletin Board

the BB is the other main mode of communication: usually the instructor uses it for general announcements.  But students can use it as well to post something to everybody.

Points & Grades

the instructor corrects HWs, labs, quizzes, midterm, final and assigns points to each student.  Students should regularly check their grades (about once a week).


 

Middle row

Lecture notes

they supplement the textbook readings. In fact, here I express what I deem most important for you to learn from me, which, of course, is also expressed in HW, Labs, Quizzes, Midterm, and Final. So read these lecture notes carefully.

Homework

is assigned every week.

Labs

are assigned every week.

Hints to HW, Quizzes, Labs

exactly that.

back to public  home page

just that ( http://www.wncc.net/astronomy ).


 

Bottom row

Syllabus

available at http://www.wncc.net/courses/aveh/syllabus.htm , pretty important.

Astronomy web sites

these are some web sites that might be helpful to students.  A little outdated, sorry.

Glossary

explanation of about thirty terms that are relevant to the class.

Chat   

here a student can meet the instructor during his office hours.  Saves some telephone money.  (rarely used)

Whiteboard   

to send, receive and look at drawings that instructor and students can make.  (rarely used)

 


Last Update:  7/5/2007, A. Veh

Not needed:

Mo & We 1:30-2:30 and 4:30-5:30, Th 4:30-5:30   (Mountain ST or MDT)

[Mo & We 11:30-12:30 and 2:30-3:30, Th 2:30-3:30   (Alaska ST or ADT)]