ASTR100 - Fall 2004 - Sections 0101 - 0107

Introduction to Astronomy

Announcements:

Slide summaries for the Thursday Dec 9 lecture are here. Please note that the slides that I consider important for the final exam are: 3, 5, 7, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 25 (but not the numbers), 29. The upper left slide on the first page is slide 1, the upper right slide is slide 2, the middle left is slide 3, and so forth. You will need acrobat reader to view the slides.
Solutions for Homework 9 are here. See your TA to get your homework back.
Multiple choice questions from an old exam that I gave are available here. Note that the textbook used for that exam was different and so some some of the questions cover material that probably wouldn't be on your midterm. The answers are here. Short answer questions for that exam are here. The answers to the short answer questions are here

Review sessions are scheduled for Monday Dec 13 11:00-12:00 and 5:30-6:30 in CSS 2400.
Homework 9 is due Tuesday December 7 and is available here
The revised schedule and list of reading assignments is available here
Please complete the on-line course evaluation, which you can access at here Please note that you should complete evaluations for BOTH the lecture part (Tu Th 9:30) AND your discussion section. The deadline for doing your evaluation is December 10.
Multiple choice questions from an old midterm that I gave are available here. Note that some of the questions cover material that probably wouldn't be on your midterm. I've tried to indicate such questions in a version of the test that marks the correct answer, which is available here
The first midterm is available here
Answers to that midterm are here (Note the midterm and answers are ordered as in the white-colored exams. The blue, green, and pink exams were ordered differently, and answers ordered that way can be obtained by clicking on the appropriate color: green , pink , or blue
TA contact info available here

Professor: Dr. Stuart Vogel
- Lecture Time: Tu - Th 9:30 - 10:45
- Lecture Room: PHYS 1412
Teaching Assistants: See TA Information
- Discussion Room: CSS 2400
- Discussion Times: See Section Information

Class Information

Course Description .Description of the course, policies on grading, missed classes, code of academic integrity, etc are found here

Lecture Schedule Revisions to schedule and reading assignments that become necessary will be posted here.
Assignments Check here for up to date information on Homeworks. Solutions may also available here for completed assignments.

Other Astronomy Department information

Deparment web page
Open House Schedule and related information for the University Observatory's Open House.
There are other ASTR courses you can take after this one: Courses offered the astronomy department.

In the News

Material to Help You Out

GENERAL

Powers of Ten Java applet
Constellations and myths.
- Flyby toward stars of the Orion constellation
Computer Programs for use in ASTR100.
- Practice scientific notation and working with equations. Learn about astronomical distances and giant impacts!
- Watch the planets move around the Sun on their actual orbits! Follow this link to the Inner Solar System and Outer Solar System animations.
- Check out the orbits of all 67 moons orbiting the planets in our Solar System!
- JavaLab for the curious. Collide or cannibalize your own galaxies, explore the expansion history of the cosmos, and more!
Supplementary Information for UMD Introductory Astronomy. This site includes useful practice multiple choice questions which the computer will grade for you.
Astronomy Picture of the Day This site is updated daily and has a nice archive of pretty astronomy images.
Artificial Satellites
- Predictions for artificial satellites, including
- Satellite forecasts specific to College Park.
EclipseAnimations
- Shadow of Moon sweeping Earth during solar eclipse
- Various eclipse sequences and animations for 1999 eclipse
- More on 1999 eclipse
- Animation of 2001 eclipse path
Parallax Java applet Note: very nice demonstration of parallax, but it doesn't work well on all browsers
Orion parallax animation Annual parallax of stars in the direction of Orion (greatly exaggerated). Click on the image to start animation
Lunar Phases
Solar
Aistotle and Ptolemy
Copernicus
Galileo
Kepler
Binary star simulation Java simulation of orbits of binary stars (Newton's Laws)
Another binary star simulation
Yet another binary star simulation
Weight calculator Calculate your weight on other planets and the Moon
Lunar cycle Images of the moon showing phases, and wobble due to elliptical orbit
Simulation of Moon Formation Large Impact hypothesis simulation
Black Body java applet Click on different temperatures to see how peak wavelength changes. Also try de-selecting auto-x and auto-y
Recent Washington Post article on aurora The infamous ASTR 100 pre-midterm aurora
Spectra of Elements Click on an element's symbol to see its absorption or emission spectrum
Drake Equation Calculator

SOLAR SYSTEM

Welcome to the Planets Information about planets and spaceprobes from JPL.
Solar System viewer
A Tour of the Solar System This page contains information about the planets, satellites, asteroids, comets, and Solar System related topics.
NEAR mission to asteroid Eros.
Links to links of various amusing and interesting Java applets illustrating planetary orbits, angular momentum conservation, etc.
Comet Information This page contains information about recently discovered comets.
Comet Crash pictures and movies.
Spacewatch This page contains information about this program which searches for near Earth objects.
Extra Solar Planets Astronomers have discovered planets around other stars. The list lengthens all the time!
Jupiter movies Link to site with Jupiter images and movies
Sun grazing comet Animated gif of sun-grazing comet. Coronograph (artificial spacecraft eclipse) shows motion of sun along ecliptic and solar mass ejection
Daily images and movies of the Sun Click on "The Sun Now" image in upper left, then click on one of the "real time movie" links

STARS & OUR GALAXY

Light and the Electromagnetic Spectrum Good information about light.
The Stellar Spectral Sequence. The colors and spectra of stars.
Structure and Evolution of Stars What happens when a star runs out of fuel?
Novae and Supernovae The most violent events in the Universe!
Binary Stars This page contains general information on binary stars.
Pulsars Hear them tick!
Neutron stars An introduction to some of their many faces.
Black Hole Candidates This page contains information on Cygnus X-1, LMC X-3, and other black hole candidates.
Videos of compact objects, including the expected appearance of things in the vicinity of black holes.

OTHER GALAXIES

Ned Wright's Cosmology FAQ
Galaxy appearance and classification.
Relativity Everything that you want to know about General Relativity, curved spacetime, and gravitational radiation!
Cosmology How did the Universe begin? How will it end?
Large Scale Structure Clusters & Superclusters of Galaxies. What do they look like?
Dark Matter: What is dark matter? What is it made of?
Some alternatives to dark matter.

SETI The search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
http://www.seti-inst.edu/science/setiathome.html Download the screen saver that lets your PC join in the search for extraterrestrial life.

ASTR100 - Fall 2004 - Sections 0101 - 0107

Class Information

Course Description .Description of the course, policies on grading, missed classes, code of academic integrity, etc are found here

Lecture Schedule Revisions to schedule and reading assignments that become necessary will be posted here.

Assignments Check here for up to date information on Homeworks. Solutions may also available here for completed assignments.