ASTR-2-01    Raja Guha Thakurta's class on MWF at 9:30 am

or

ASTR-2-02    Rebecca Bernstein's class on MWF at 11:00 am.

• Syllabus

• Course content

• Grading

• Lecture and Discussion Section times

• Homework Assignments

• Math Help  and a   Review of basic Math concepts

• Lecture Notes and Quizzes from Raja , Rebecca

• Practice exams and practice problems from Raja,  Rebecca

• Exam Scores

• How to buy and register a "clicker" to use in class!

Week #, Dates  [lec #]	Reading	Topics
week 1 9/26 [1]	"Preview" Chapter (pg 1-14)	Introduction (lecture notes and (movies).  Clicker practice.
week 2 9/30, 10/1, 10/3  [2, 3, 4]	Sections 1.1-1.3 and 6.3-6.5 Sections 1.3-1.5, 2.1-2.4 Sections 2.5-2.9 and 6.6	Earth, Moon, Sun Motion of the Planets, Gravity Newton's Laws, Orbits, Tides
week 3 10/6, 10/8, 10/10  [5, 6, 7]	Sections 2.5-2.9 and 6.6 Sections 3.1-3.4 Sections 3.5-3.7	Newton's Laws Light, Atoms and spectra
week 4 10/13, 10/15, 10/17  [8, 9, 10]	Essay 4 (pg 541-547) Sections 12.1-12.3	Special and General Relativity (lecture notes) Emitting and Detecting Light in the Universe
week 5 10/20, 10/22, 10/24  [11, 12, 13]	Sections 16.2 Sections 17.1-17.2	Expansion of the Universe History and Fate of the Universe; The Big Bang Olbers' Paradox (lecture notes) Friday in class: Midterm #1 (Covering Material up to and including week 4)
week 6 10/27, 10/29, 10/31  [14, 15, 16]	Sections 17.3-17.5 Section 14.3	Steady-State Cosmology Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (lecture notes) Early Universe; Nucleosynthesis; Inflation (lecture notes) Black Holes (lecture notes)
week 7 11/3, 11/5, 11/7  [17, 18, 19]	Sections 15.1-15.3, 15.5-15.6 Sections 16.1-16.2, 16.4-16.5	Galaxies (lecture notes) Active Galactic Nuclei (lecture notes)
week 8 11/10, 11/12, 11/14  [20, 21, 22]	Sections 11.1-11.5 Section 12.3-12.8	Our Star Stars in Middle Age Friday in class:  Midterm #2 (Emphasis on week 5 through week 7)
week 9 11/17, 11/19, 11/21 [23, 24, 25]	Section 12.3-12.8 Sections 13.1-13.9	Stars  in Middle Age, continued Stars -- infancy to middle age
week 10 11/24	Sections 14.1-14.3	Death of Stars
week 11 12/1, 12/3, 12/5 [28, 29, 30]	Section 15.4 Section 16.3	Interstellar medium Dark matter (lecture notes)
Final exam times:		ASTR-2-01 9:30 am lecture:   Tue, 9 Dec, 7:30 - 10:30 pm ASTR-2-02 11:00 am lecture:  Mon, 8 Dec, 4:00 - 7:00 pm

• Topics:

This is a one-term introductory course on astronomy and astrophysics.   We will cover the basic history, content, and fate of the universe.   Some of the topics we will touch on include: the origin & evolution of the Universe and the Big Bang model; galaxies & their constituents, including stars, planets & the interstellar medium (gas and dust); normal and active galaxies; the formation and evolution of galaxies; the life cycles & deaths of stars, including supernovae, white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes; nucleosynthesis (the origin of chemical elements); and dark matter.  Such studies require knowledge of  simple mechanics and basic laws of radiation, quantum mechanics, and nuclear & particle physics, which we shall develop as we go along.

The class syllabus below contains a detailed calendar listing weekly topics, homework deadlines, exam dates, and holidays. There may be some deviations from this syllabus depending on our rate of progress and any special topics that come up in current research.

• Textbook & Other Resources:

Explorations:  An Introduction to Astronomy (5th Edition)
Authors:  Arny &  Schneider.
McGraw Hill, 2008
Textbook Web site (password provided when you purchase a textbook)


Astronomy on the Web (this is just a start!):
 A pictorial tour of the Solar System
 The Nine Planets
 Astronomy Picture of the Day
 The Best of Hubble Space Telescope Pictures
 Sloan Digital Sky Survey
 W. M. Keck Observatory -- home to the world's largest optical telescopes
 Our recent press release about the distribution of distant galaxies including a cool graphic (low resolution version and high resolution version)
 Our recent press release about a warp in the Andromeda spiral galaxy
 Carl Sagan quote and image of the Earth from the Voyager spacecraft
 Poster of Carl Sagan's: Reflections on a Mote of Dust

• Emphasis and Advice:

We will emphasize scientific methods and the process of discovery, not just facts about the Universe.  Students are expected to develop a quantitative grasp of key astrophysical concepts.  We will emphasize reasoning and understanding over memorizing.

The course material is self-contained. No previous college-level math, physics, or astronomy is required. It will be assumed, however, that the student has mastered elementary arithmetic, algebra, and powers, and has  some familiarity with scientific concepts and reasoning. A background in math or physics will help, but is not necessary to succeed in the class.  Some of the best students in our previous ASTR-2 classes  have been non-science majors who took a strong interest in the course material.

It is advisable to purchase a small inexpensive calculator, if you don’t already own one. Be sure to get one that does powers and roots. Questions and classroom discussion are encouraged, both for your benefit and to help me properly pace the course. Please browse astronomy web sites (we’ll provide some links on the class website) and share your findings, comments, questions, etc in class.

To get the most out of class (and a good grade), it is critical that you attend lectures.  We will be giving graded and ungraded quizzes in lecture on a regular basis using the electronic response system (the "clickers" discussed above).  So it is critical that you attend (and bring your clicker!) to every lecture.  In order to get the most out of lectures, it is also a really good idea to read the chapter before hand so that you are familiar with the material.  It is also extremely important to attend discussion sections, even though they are not mandatory. Students who do not attend both discussion sections and lecture are at a huge disadvantage for exams, homework, and the overall grade.

20% First Midterm
20% Second Midterm
25% In-lecture clicker scores and quizzes
35% Final

• Homework:

Any questions regarding homework  (grading questions, etc.) should be addressed first to your TA.  You can get the homework each week from  this web page.
 

• In-lecture questions & Quizzes:

We will be using the clickers (electronic response pads, discussed above) in every lecture to ask questions and get feedback from the class.  This is extremely important for keeping you engaged and learning!  We will also have occasional in-lecture quizzes using the clickers.   If you skip lectures, or forget your clicker, you will not be able to get points for the quizzes, which will be a significant part of your grade!  Come to lecture and bring your clicker!

• Discussion Sections [updated 9/26]:

You must also sign up for a discussion section corresponding to the lecture time slot for your class.  While you are not required to attend discussion sections, regular attendance will dramatically increase your learning and your grade!

If the discussion section of your choice is full and you can't officially enroll in it at the UCSC registrar's site, show up for that section anyway and make sure you sign up with the TA. Each TA will mantain his/her own unofficial list of students who have signed up for that section. It is important that you attend the same section each week in order for you to get to know your TA and vice versa. Each TA's sign-up list and your attendance record will help us assess the level of effort you are putting into the course.

• Midterms and Final:

There will be two midterms and a final.   You must take all exams in order to pass the course.   Each midterm will cover all material up to that point in the course, but the second midterm will emphasize the material covered after the first midterm.   The final will cover material from the whole term.

• Field Trip to Mount Hamilton [updated 9/26]: 

There will a field trip to Lick Observatory's Mount Hamilton station on Friday October 10. The trip is optional, but open to students in both Astro 2 classes (9:30am and 11am lecture times). We can only accommodate the first 40 students who sign up: first come, first served. You have to sign up in person with Cathy Clausen in the Astronomy department office (ISB 201) and will have to pay her $5 to reserve your spot for the trip (no refunds!). We will arrange transportation in UCSC vans. We will leave campus at 2PM and you should be back in your rooms by midnight. Trip details can be found here.

•  01 Lecture (9:30-10:40) -- Raja     
•  02 Lecture (11:00-12:10) -- Rebecca

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Th	Fri
8:30-9:40 (Th), 8-9:10 (F)				01-D Justin	02-C Val
9:30-10:40	Lecture		Lecture		Lecture
10-11:10 am				01-E Val
11:00-12:10	Lecture		Lecture		Lecture
12:30-1:40 pm					01-F Lorenzo
2-3:10 pm	01-A Javiera	02-A Fernanda	02-B Javiera
6-7:10 pm		01-B Fernanda
7:30-8:40 pm		01-C Justin