ASTR220 SYLLABUS

  • Wednesday Jan. 28 -- Introductions
    Who's taking this class and why? Collisions: solar system, galaxy, universe

  • Friday Jan. 30 -- Survey of the Universe
    Timescales and spacings, Scientific Method
    Read Chapman 1

  • Monday Feb. 2 -- Impact Craters on Earth
    Volcanic versus impact theories, Tunguska event
    Read Chapman 2 & 3

  • Wednesday Feb. 4 -- Bombardment of the Solar System
    Observations and comparison of surfaces
    Read Chapman 4

  • Friday Feb. 6 -- Factors Affecting Surfaces
    Why planets and moons look so different

  • Monday Feb. 9 -- Nature of Projectiles--Comets
    Orbits, composition, collision potential
    Read Chapman 5 to page 70

  • Wednesday Feb. 11 -- Nature of Projectiles--Asteroids and Meteorites
    Orbits, composition, collision potential
    Read Chapman 5 from page 70
    HOMEWORK #1 due at beginning of class

  • Friday Feb. 13 -- Experiences with Collisions
    IN CLASS ACTIVITY (10 pts.) Making Craters

  • Monday Feb. 16 -- Comet Shoemaker Levy 9 Collision with Jupiter
    Discovery and Observations

  • Wednesday Feb. 18 -- Comet Shoemaker Levy 9 Collision with Jupiter
    What did we learn?

  • Friday Feb. 20 -- The Asteroid and the Dinosaur Theory
    Birth of a new theory
    Read Chapman 6

  • Monday Feb. 23 -- Impact Winter / Nuclear Winter
    What would it be like?
    Read Chapman 7 & 8

  • Wednesday Feb. 25 -- Periodic Mass Extinctions
    Nemesis, Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud
    Read Chapman 10

  • Friday Feb. 27 -- Formation of the Earth's Moon
    Results of a collision?????
    Read Chapman 11
    QUIZ #1 given in class

  • Monday Mar. 2 -- Other Theories Involving Major Solar System Collisions
    Mercury, Uranus, Miranda, rings, Pluto, Velikovsky's Theories
    Read Chapman 12 & 13

  • Wednesday Mar. 4 -- Do future collisions threaten our existence?
    Part I NOVA video (in class presentation)
    Read Chapman 19
    HOMEWORK #2 due at the beginning of class

  • Friday Mar. 6 -- Predicting and Preventing Collisions
    Part II NOVA video (continued)
    IN CLASS ACTIVITY (10 pts.) Group Discussion

  • Monday Mar. 9 -- So What Do We Do?
    Concluding ideas, Watch programs, Action programs

  • Wednesday Mar. 11 -- Discussion, Questions and Review

  • Friday Mar. 13 -- EXAM I

  • Monday Mar. 16 -- Physics of Light and Heat
    Blackbody radiation, Doppler shift

  • Wednesday Mar. 18 -- Properties of Stars
    Observations and theories

  • Friday Mar. 20 -- Life of the Sun
    Evolution of a 1 solar mass star
    Read Chapman 17

  • Monday Mar. 23 -- Spring Break!

  • Wednesday Mar. 25 -- Spring Break!

  • Friday Mar. 27 -- Spring Break!

  • Monday Mar. 30 -- Evolution of Massive Stars
    Supernovae
    Read Chapman 18

  • Wednesday Apr. 1 -- Stellar Death
    White dwarf, neutron stars, and black holes
    QUIZ #2 given in class

  • Friday Apr. 3 -- Galactic Structure
    Do stars collide?

  • Monday Apr. 6 -- Star Clusters
    View from within

  • Wednesday Apr. 8 -- Binary Stars
    Characteristics and types
    HOMEWORK #3 due at the beginning of class

  • Friday Apr. 10 -- Close Binaries
    Mass flows and novae

  • Monday Apr. 13 -- Fascinating Systems
    Algol, Cygnus X-1, SS 433, ER Vulpeculae, models

  • Wednesday Apr. 15 -- Discussion, Questions and Review

  • Friday Apr. 17 -- EXAM II

  • Monday Apr. 20 -- Other Galaxies
    Discovery and implications
    Read Parker 1 & 2

  • Wednesday Apr. 22 -- Peculiar Galaxies
    Attention getters!!!
    Read Parker 3 & 4

  • Friday Apr. 24 -- Quasars
    Discovery and models
    Read Parker 5 & 6

  • Monday Apr. 27 -- Active Galactic Nuclei
    Feeding a supermassive black hole

  • Wednesday Apr. 29 -- Does our Milky Way have a supermassive black hole lurking at its center?
    Observations and implications
    Read Parker 7
    QUIZ #3 given in class

  • Friday May 1 -- Centaurus A and other Weird Beasties
    Strange case examples
    Read Parker 8

  • Monday May 4 -- Galactic Collisions
    Observations and theory
    Read Parker 9
    IN CLASS ACTIVITY (5 pts.) Galactic Collisions

  • Wednesday May 6 -- Galactic Mergers and Cannibalism
    Cluster interaction models, galactic evolution
    Read Parker 10 & 11
    HOMEWORK #4 due at the beginning of class

  • Friday May 8 -- Large Scale Structure
    Bubbles and Voids
    Read Parker 12 & 13 to page 266

  • Monday May 11 -- The Ultimate Collision--The Big Crunch?
    Possible fates of our universe
    Read Parker 13 & 14 from page 266

  • Wednesday May 13 -- Discussion, Questions and Review

  • Saturday May 16 -- FINAL EXAM
    Room: CSS2400
    Time: 8:00am-10:00am

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    Last modified: Tue Jan 27 15:18:17 1998