ASTR 220 Collisions in Space
Fall 2004
Introduction
ASTR 220 Collisions in Space is a 3-credit CORE Physical Science
course. It does not have a laboratory section. There are no
pre-requisites for this class.
As its name suggests, this course focuses on the many different types
of collisions that occur as part of astronomical phenomena, from
impacts between solar system bodies to binary stars to merging
galaxies. Astronomers once believed that collisions within the solar
system were unimportant today, but one event we will study is the
crash of a comet into Jupiter in 1994. Possibly the most important
large impact on Earth was the one that caused the extinction of the
dinosaurs 65 million years ago, which is a topic we will study in
detail.
This class is aimed at non-science majors. It will emphasize the
scientific method and means scientists use to determine what we know
about collisions in space. The only math skills required are those
you should possess upon entry to the university: some simple algebra,
the use of scientific notation, and how to interpret graphs.
Class Hours
Lectures: 11:00am - 12:15pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays, CSS 2400
Contact Information and Office Hours
Instructor: Dr. Melissa Hayes-Gehrke
- email: avondale@astro.umd.edu
- office: CSS 1233
- phone: x5-5099
- office hours: Monday 3-4pm, Wednesday 2-3pm
TA: Ms. Laura Brenneman
- email: lwb@astro.umd.edu
- office: CSS 0222
- phone: x5-2693
- office hours: Monday and Wednesday 1-2pm
Please feel free to email either the instructor or TA to arrange
appointments at other times to discuss the class.
Textbooks
Two books are required for the course.
- Night Comes to the Cretaceous, by James Lawrence Powell
- The Cosmic Perspective, Third Edition, by Bennett,
Donahue, Schneider, and Volt
We will be reading Night Comes to the Cretaceous (abbreviated
NCC) cover to cover as one of the primary topics of the course.
The Cosmic Perspective (abbreviated CP) will be used to
cover basic scientific topics and tools and to provide information
about the other course topics.
Please note: The instructor plans to require The Cosmic
Perspective for an ASTR 100-level course next semester; please keep this in
mind if you wish to sell your copy of the book back to the bookstore
at the end of the term.
Homeworks
There will be nine homework assignments for the course. The homeworks
will be based on material from both the lectures and the reading
assignments. Only the eight highest homework grades will be counted.
(Course grading is explained in the next section.) If you fail to
turn in one homework, it will count as your lowest homework. Homework
are due at the beginning of lecture on the dates indicated on each
homework. Detailed solutions to the homeworks will be handed out
immediately after they are due. For this reason, late homeworks will
not be accepted. Homeworks will count toward 32% of your grade.
In-Class Activities
There will be one in-class experiment (on Tuesday, September 21, 2004)
that will include a short write-up. The experiment and associated
write-up will count toward 4% of your grade.
We will watch a video in-class on Tuesday, September 28, 2004.
Following the video, you will complete a worksheet on the material in
the video and turn it in at the end of class. This write-up will
count toward 4% of your grade.
There will be an in-class discussion of the book Night Comes to
the Cretaceous on Thursday, October 7, 2004. You will be discussing
the book in small groups and answering questions about the book. The
write-up for this activity will be handed in at the end of the class.
This activity will count toward 4% of your grade.
Exams and Grading
Credit will only be given for those answers on homeworks and exams
that answer the question asked. Partial credit will be given if the
answer was on the right track but incomplete. Credit will not be
given simply for effort.
There will be two midterms and one final. The midterms will be on
Tuesday, October 12, 2004, and Tuesday, November 9, 2004. The
midterms will be based on material covered both in lecture and in the
assigned readings. The second midterm will test only the material
covered since the first midterm. The final exam will be held on
Monday, December 13, from 8:00 - 10:00 am. The final exam will be
cumulative.
Grading will be as follows:
- Homeworks: 32%
- In-class experiment: 4%
- In-class video and write-up: 4%
- In-class book discussion: 4%
- Midterms: 28%
- Final: 28%
Minimum course grade percentage for the letter grades:
- A+ 97.5%
- A 92.5%
- A- 90%
- B+ 87.5%
- B 82.5%
- B- 80%
- C+ 77.5%
- C 72.5%
- C- 70%
- D+ 67.5%
- D 60%
- D- 52.5%
The scale for the letter grades above may be curved if the exams or
assignments prove more difficult than expected. If that is the case,
the minimum course grade percentages may be lowered; they will never
be raised.
How to Do Well in This Course
The key to succeeding in this course is to budget your time so that
you are able to keep up with the readings and complete the homework
assignments. Reading the designated sections before class will allow
you to connect the class material to the book and give you a greater
understanding of the material.
Try to budget time to start the homeworks before the night before they
are due. If you read over and begin each problem, you will figure out
which problems present difficulties for you that you might want to ask
questions about.
Absences
University regulations for excused absences and academic honesty
apply strictly in this class. Please review them in the schedule of
classes. If you must be absent for a university-approved athletic
event or religious observance, please contact me by Drop/Add Date,
September 13, 2004, to make appropriate arrangements. If you will be
absent for any other reason and wish to receive full credit for
assignments you will miss, you must contact me before missing
class to discuss missed material and to arrange to bring a valid
excuse.
Academic Integrity
The process of scientific inquiry and education depends on the
integrity of all participants. Students are expected to adhere to the
Honor Pledge listed on the Student Honor Council website
(http://www.studenthonorcouncil.umd.edu/). Academic dishonesty
consists of cheating, fabrication, facilitation, and plagiarism (see
the website for a complete description of each type). Academic
dishonesty will not be tolerated in this class.
Date | Topic | Reading | Due |
T 8/31 | Course introduction. | CP 1; NCC Prologue |
| Astronomy overview. | |
Th 9/2 | Terrestrial planets: craters. | NCC 1, 2 |
T 9/7 | Erasing of craters. | CP 10.1, 10.3-10.6 |
| Age determination from craters. | NCC 3 |
Th 9/9 | Solar system formation. | CP 9.1-9.5; NCC 4 | HW 1 |
T 9/14 | The leftovers: asteroids, comets and meteorites. | CP 13.1-13.4, |
| | 13.6: Comet Tails and Meteor Showers; |
| | NCC 5 |
T 9/16 | Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact with Jupiter | CP 13.6: SL9 Impacts on Jupiter; |
| | NCC 6 |
T 9/21 | In-class Cratering Experiment | hand-out; NCC 7 | HW 2 |
Th 9/23 | Other impacts: formation of Moon, | NCC 8 |
| Mercury, Venus, Uranus, rings. | |
T 9/28 | Video: Crater of Death | NCC 9, 10 | Experiment |
Th 9/30 | Alvarez theory of dinosaur extinction. | CP 13.6: Impacts and Mass Extinctions, |
| | The Mass Extinction, Controversies and |
| | Other Mass Extinctions; NCC 11 |
T 10/5 | Are mass extinctions periodic? | CP 13.6: The Asteroid Threat; | HW 3 |
| What is the real threat of impacts? | NCC 12 |
Th 10/7 | Class discussion of book. | NCC 13 |
T 10/12 | Midterm 1 | |
Th 10/14 | Stars: formation and stellar structure. | CP 17.1, 17.2, 15.1-15.4 |
T 10/19 | Stellar evolution of low mass stars: | CP 17.3 |
| planetary nebulae, red giants. | |
Th 10/21 | Stellar evolution of high mass stars: | CP 17.4 | HW 4 |
| supernovae | |
T 10/26 | White dwarfs, neutron stars, black holes. | CP 18.1-18.4 |
Th 10/28 | Types of binary stars. | CP 16.4 | HW 5 |
T 11/2 | Close binary evolution: | CP 17.5, 18.5 |
| novae, Type Ia supernovae, GRBs | |
Th 11/4 | Star clusters. Do stars collide? | CP 16.5-16.6 | HW 6 |
| Blue stragglers. | |
T 11/9 | Midterm 2 | |
Th 11/11 | Structure of the Milky Way. Local Group. | CP 19.1-19.4 |
T 11/16 | Other types of galaxies. Clusters. | CP 20.1-20.2 |
Th 11/18 | Do galaxies collide? Mergers. | CP 21.3 | HW 7 |
T 11/23 | Active galactic nuclei. | CP 21.5, 19.5 |
| Does the Milky Way have a black hole? | |
Th 11/25 | Thanksgiving break |
T 11/30 | Hubble Law. | CP 20.3-20.4 | HW 8 |
Th 12/2 | Structure of the universe: | CP 22.5 |
| voids and bubbles. | |
T 12/7 | Beginning and end of the universe: | CP 23, 22.6 |
| Big Bang and Big Crunch? | |
Th 12/9 | Review | | HW 9 |
M 12/13 | Final Exam, 8 - 10 am |
The image in the background of this page was taken by Debra Meloy
Elmegreen and colleges at Vassar College and the Hubble Heritage Team
at the Space Telescope Science Institute.