ASTR-104 is a 3-credit course which may be applied toward the General Education Natural Sciences - Mathematics (D-1) requirement as a Designated Lab (DL) course. ASTR 104 is an introduction to the stars, Sun, Moon, and planets as viewed from Earth, timekeeping, celestial navigation, lunar phases, eclipses, the historical development of the scientific understanding of our solar system, and the properties of asteroids, comets, moons, and planets.

This course includes an integrated laboratory that includes planetarium exercises and evening observing sessions using telescopes. Students must be registered both in the lecture section and in the corresponding laboratory section. The course and laboratory must be taken together or dropped together.

Prerequisites: None

Corequisites: None

My goal in this course is to help students learn more about the sky and the workings of our solar system, which is our home within the vast universe. Some of the knowledge is practical and neccessary to anyone hoping to live in a wise fashion. Other parts of the course will address knowledge which simply satisfies our curiosity but not be especially useful on a day-to-day basis. Astronomy of our solar system includes the study of the Sun, Moon, planets and constellations of stars as they appear to Earthbound observers; including topics such as timekeepings, calendars, celestial navigation, cause of the seasons, and eclipses. Students are encouraged to develop their ability to carefully observe happenings in the sky. The course also emphasizes the history of human beings seeking to understand the nature of the universe and the physical principles that govern it. Our understanding of the physical universe is gained through a scientific study of nature. We will focus on some of these understandings and how we have come to believe they are true.

It is important that students take responsibility for their education. Ask questions, both inside and outside the classroom. Discuss the material with friends and classmates how this course relates to the real world. Manage your time and do not cram for exams. The student and professor make a team, you both want to learn the material and earn a good grade. Click here to view a brief essay on how to achieve academic success..

The final grades will be determined from 500 possible points. Your grade for the course will be determined by your ultimate point total in comparison with the rest of the class.

  75    First Hour Examination
  75    Second Hour Examination
  75    Third Hour Examination
125    Comprehensive Final Examination
130    Laboratory Exercises
  20    Attendance at Planetarium Shows

Your grade for the course will be determined by your ultimate point total in comparison with the rest of the class.

All work turned in for a grade must be your own. No credit will be given for work that is not demonstrably your own.

I expect prompt and regular attendance. Lectures will largely follow the order of the book, though lecture content may differ somewhat from the text. Material presented in lecture takes precedence over the text. Students are advised to keep their notes up to date and to read the text as an accompaniment to their notes. Missed classes should be covered by obtaining notes from other students. In addition, there will occasionally be unscheduled activities distributed for completion during the same class period and counting toward your final grade.

You must be sure to attend all tests and the final exam at the scheduled times. If you are unable to take an exam with the rest of the class you must notify the instructor before the regularly scheduled exam time. The only makeup exams allowed after the class takes the test will be for students with a verified excuse of illness or extraordinary crisis. A missed exam will otherwise be scored as a zero.

I consider myself to be open and accessible to my students. You are always welcome to drop by my office to seek advice, discuss your progress, or ask questions. If my door is open and I am around, then I will do my best to make time to sit down with you. Anyone who finds that my availability does not live up to my desires can catch me during my scheduled office hours or make an appointment at our mutual convenience.

To fulfill the GenEd Lab Science requirement, each student must be enrolled in the corresponding zero credit laboratory. This lab section is listed by the registrar as: Meeting Time - TBA. In fact, there will be no regularly scheduled meeting for a separate lab. The ASTR 104 lab component is integrated into the lecture. Every student will be expected to be available for a limited number of evening observing sessions during the semester. The astronomical observatory on the rooftop of TCCW has been reserved for a limited number of opportunities to complete the telescope viewing labs, listed in the semester's course calendar. The remaining labs must be completed out of class, on your own time.

The required labs for this section of ASTR 104 are:

20 points, Using the Night Sky Wheel to Learn the Constellations, due January 27;

20 points, Identifying Prominent Winter Constellations, meet, for one clear night, in TCCW 129 at 6:30 p.m. on either Jan. 14, 20, or 21;

20 points, Learning About Space Through Cyberspace, due Feb 3;

25 points, The Phases and Appearances of the Moon, three opportunities, due Feb 1 OR March 3 OR March 31;

20 points, The Monthly Motion of the Moon, three opportunities, due Feb 1 OR March 3 OR March 31;

25 points, Observing the Moon and Planets with Small Telescopes, one clear evening session, Jan 25, OR Feb 22-25, OR March 22-25.

Each lab is due at the start of class on the due date. A 10% penalty will be assessed for every 24 hours of lateness, with no exceptions allowed.

The questions will be primarily short answer or multiple choice, but will contain some quantitative problems involving simple algebra. You are required to bring #2 pencils and a calculator to each exam. The instructor will supply 8.5x11 scantron forms to record multiple choice answers. No other outside material, notes, texts, etc., will be allowed.

Throughout the semester, opportunities will be offered to earn a point or two of extra credit, to be applied toward your final point total. The maximum amount extra credit offered over the course of the semester should be enough to raise your final point total by half a letter grade.

Some of the extra credit offerings will involve writing essay responses to various questions. Others will be brief exercises on material covered in class. Every extra credit submission which responds to the posed question and is returned by the due date will receive full credit; exceptionally good responses may receive additional points. These will be distributed throughout the semester, to help emphasize important topics.

Every scheduled Friday meeting of the class, you can earn a point of extra credit by handing in a current news article relating to the astronomical topics covered in this semester's class. Turn in the original item neatly fixed to a sheet of 8.5x11 inch paper, labeled with your name, the source and date of the news item and which chapter in the book to the item most closely relates. Undocumented, illegible or fragmentary or articles will not be accepted.

During the last half of the semester, the instuctor will assign Inernet based multiple-choice study questions. Extra credit will be awarded for each student who e-mails the results of a correctly answered assignment to the instructor by the due date.

A weekly schedule of the material to be presented. Students should read the appropriate pages from the textbook before that week's lectures.

Astronomy 104 - Spring 1999 Course Calendar (Watch for Changes!)

Week of:	Lecture Topic:	Readings:	Due Dates / Tests / Observing:
Jan 11	What is Astronomy?, Tour of the Universe, Constellations	3-9, 38-39 (Interlude 2.2)	.
Jan 18	Celestial Navigation	9,13-15	No Class on M.L.King Jr. Holiday
Jan 25	Timekeeping and Calendars, Phases of the Moon	15-22	Jan 27: Skywheel lab due
Feb 1	Telescopes, Annual Motions in the Sky	95-114	Feb 3: Cyberspace lab due
Feb 8	Seasons	10-12	Test 1
Feb 15	Early Astronomy - the Greeks	22-25, 29-34	.
Feb 22	Early Astronomy - The Copernican Revolution	35-43	.
Mar 1	Renaissance Astronomy and Astrophysics	44-50	.
Mar 8	Space Flight	127-142	Test 2
Mar 15	.	.	Spring Break
Mar 22	The Planet Earth	145-168	.
Mar 29	The Earth-Moon System	171-191	.
Apr 5	The Terrestrial Planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars	195-230	.
Apr 12	The Giant Planets, their rings and moons	233-294	.
Apr 19	Extraterrestrial Life?	609-622	Test 3
Apr 26	The Sun, Formation of the Solar System	317-354	.
May 5	.	.	Comprehensive Final Exam, 8-10am

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