Astronomy 101 Syllabus

Astronomy 101 - General Astronomy

Instructor:            Jon Truax                                                                           Fall 2006

Phone:                   777-0289 or 777-0681 (personal extension)

Office:                   Room 143-A (Often in Planetarium - Room 135)

Text:                     “Foundations of Astronomy” by Michael A. Seeds, 9^th Edition.

Sections:               Fall 2006 sections.

1.      Course Content

Test 1:        Chapters 1-4

         1.)     Introduction - vocabulary, distance units, structure of universe.

         2.)     The motion of the sun and stars.

         3.)     Seasons.

         4.)     Celestial coordinates.

         5.)     The moon (lunar cycle).

         6.)     Eclipses.

         7.)     Ancient astronomers.

         8.)     Solar system structure theories.

         9.)     Kepler’s Laws.

Test 2:        Chapters 5-7

1.)          Newton ’s Laws

2.)          Nature of light.

         3.)     Relationship of color to temperature.

         4.)     Spectral lines and chemical composition.

         5.)     The Doppler effect.

         6.)     The atom.

         7.)     Inverse square law of brightness.

         8.)     Telescopes.

         9.)     Radio astronomy.

       10.)     Astronomy above Earth’s atmosphere.

Test 3:        Chapters 19-25

         1.)     Solar system overview and Birth Theory.

         2.)     Earth.

         3.)     The moon as a world.

         4.)     Mercury.   

         5.)     Venus.

         6.)     Mars.

         7.)     Jupiter.

         8.)     Saturn.

         9.)     Uranus.

       10.)     Neptune .

       11.)     Pluto.

       12.)     Comets and asteroids.

Test 4:        Chapters 25, 8, and 9.

         1.)     Meteorites.

         2.)     The Sun as a star.

         3.)     Stellar distance measures and motions.

         4.)     Luminosity and brightness of stars.

         5.)     Color of stars.

         6.)     Binary stars (stellar mass relationship)

         7.)     Variable stars.

         8.)     Stellar diameters.

Test 5:        Chapters 11-18

         1.)     H-R Diagram.

         2.)     Stellar evolution birth to death.

         3.)     Stellar corpses - Neutron stars, white dwarfs and black holes.

         4.)     The Milky Way galaxy.

         5.)     Galaxies.

         6.)     Quasars and active galaxies.

         7.)     Cosmology.

2.      Course Objectives - Upon successful completion of this course you should be able

         to understand semi-popular level articles, books, and news releases concerning

         astronomical discoveries.  For a person majoring in Astronomy, they will be well

         equipped to move into a junior level course at transfer institution.

3.      Course Format - The course will be present in lecture format.  The Planetarium

         will be used to demonstrate the night sky. Lectures will use photo-visual aids.

         The college observatory will be used for field projects and general observing.

4.      Course Grade and Expectations:

         A.     Although current policy stated in the course catalog requires no math

                  pre-requisite, simple algebraic expressions will be discussed in some of

                  the presentations of astronomical methods and theories.

         B.      Student Assignments - reading assignments are expected to be completed

                  by the designated time.

         C.     Course grade:

                              5 hour tests                         -           500 points

                            10 quizzes                            -           100 points

                              1 field project                     -           100 points 

                              1 final exam *                     -           100 points (* optional for replacement

                                                                                              of missed exam or poor grade.)

                                 homework                       -           200 points

                                 video review sheets          -            40 points

                                    TOTAL POINTS                     940 points

                  Bonus points opportunities         

                      Night observing session                 10 points (extra credit) each

                      Planetarium public show visit         10 points (extra credit) each   

Calculators:

         Calculators can be very useful and time saving on some problems seen in

         this class.

Attendance:

Attendance will be taken daily.  As stated in the MCC catalog, you are expected to attend every session of this class.  I realize that some absences are unavoidable, but I encourage daily attendance.  If fate strikes on exam day NO MAKE-UP TESTS will be given without prior approval.  A valid reason is necessary for approval.  If granted, make-up exams are expected to be taken upon your return to class, no exceptions.  If a student fails to take an exam and no arrangements were made, a score of zero will be recorded.  Students are responsible for material covered and announcements made during absences from class. Excessive absences will result in student withdrawn from course.  Excessive tardiness will be questioned by the instructor.  If you miss a test or quiz, during an absence, you must contact me by phone or catch me before class to make-up the work.

Late Homework policy:

Late homework will be accepted with an appropriate point deduction.  If a student has had a long absence, late homework will be accepted, as long as the absence was excused.

Classroom Protocol:

         While you are in this class, you are expected to behave in a manner that is compatible with learning.  This means that you will come to class prepared to work, that you will turn off all cell phones, pagers, or other distracting electronic devices, that you will make an honest effort to understand the course material, that you will not deliberately waste class time by creating disturb acts, that you will treat both the subject matter and the other class participants fairly and with respect.  The instructor reserves the right to remove students from the class who do not behave in such a manner. 

Cheating and Plagiarism:

         All students in this class are expected to follow accepted guidelines of academic integrity.  This means that all work submitted by you under your name is expected to be yours and yours alone.  Copying the work of others or submitting someone else’s work as your own is plagiarism, a form of intellectual property theft.  If you submit plagiarized work in this class and are caught doing it, you will receive an automatic zero for the particular assignment.  If it happens more than once, you will be dropped from the class.  For more information on plagiarism and other forms of academic misbehavior (and their consequences), please consult a recent copy of the MCC Student Handbook.