AST 250      Fundamentals of Astronomy
MWF 11-12am SO 208
 Spring 2019

Dr. Yancy Shirley
Office hours: 10-12 Tu/Th + By Appointment
Contact
Syllabus

Pre-reqs: PHYS 141/161H, MATH 129
Homework: 75%, Exams 25%
A(>90%), B(>75%), C(>60%), D(>50%)
Midterm: Feb 27th 11am
Final Exam: May 6th 10:30-12:30




CURRENT SCHEDULE
FA = Foundations of Astrophysics. As = Astronomy

Date Homework Topic Reading
W Jan 09 Introduction
(Slides) (Video) 		FA:
As:Chapter 1
F Jan 11 Homework 1 Distance and Angle
(Board) (Slides) . 		FA:
As:Chapter 19.1-19.2
M Jan 14 Homework 2,3 Sky Coordinate Systems
(Board) (Slides) 		FA:Chapters 1.1-1.3
As: Chapter 2.1
W Jan 16 Homework 4,5 Local Siderial Time & Hour Angle
(Board) (Slides) . 		FA: Chapters 1.4-1.6
As:
F Jan 18 FLANDRAU PLANETARIUM
(SkyChart)
M Jan 21 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY - NO CLASS
W Jan 23 Homework 6,7 Spherical Trig
(Board.pdf) (Law of Cosines/Sines Derivation) .
F Jan 25 Homework 8,9 Properties of Light
(Slides) 		FA:
As: Chapter 5.1-5.2
M Jan 28 Homework 10,11 Flux & Luminosity
(Board) 		FA: Chapter 13.2
As:
W Jan 30 FLANDRAU PLANETARIUM
FA:
As:
F Feb 01 Homework 12 Magnitudes
(Board) (Slides) 		FA: Chapter 13.2
As: Chapters 17.1-17.2
M Feb 04 Homework 13 Blackbody Radiation
(Board) (Slides) 		FA: pages 140-143
As: Chapter 5.2
W Feb 06 Spectral Lines
(Board) (Slides) 		FA:
As:
F Feb 08 Homework 14 Virial Theorem
(Board) 		FA: Chapter 3.4
As:
M Feb 11 Homework 15 Stellar Energy Sources
(Board) (Slides) (Video 1) (E=mc2 Video) 		FA: Chapter 15.2
As: Chapter 16.1,
W Feb 13 Homework 16 Nucleosynthesis
(Board) (Slides) (Video) 		FA: Chapter 15.3
As: Chapters 15.1, 16.2-16.4
F Feb 15 Nucleosynthesis Cont.
(Slides) 		FA:
As:
M Feb 18 Homework 17 H-R Diagram
(Slides) H-R Animation 		FA: Chapters 14.2-14.4
As: Chapter 5.3-5.5, 18.4
W Feb 20 Homework 18 Stellar Classification
(Slides) (Video) 		FA:
As:
F Feb 22 Homework 19 Stellar Evolution
(Slides) 		FA: Chapter 17.2
As: Chapters 21.2 and 22
M Feb 25 Exam prep
Practice Exam
W Feb 27 MIDTERM
F Mar 01 NO CLASS
M Mar 04 SPRING BREAK
W Mar06 SPRING BREAK
F Mar 07 SPRING BREAK
M Mar 11 Homework 20 Stellar Death
(Slides) 		FA: Chapter 18
As: Chapter 23
W Mar 13 Homework 21 Cepheids
(Slides) 		FA: Chapter 17.3
As: Chapters 19.3-19.4
F Mar 15 Homework 22,23 Interstellar Dust
(Slides) . 		FA: Chapter 20.3
As: Chapter
M Mar 18 Star & Planet Formation
(Slides) (Simulation) . 		FA: Chapter 7.4, 14.3, 21.1-21.2
As: Chapter 8.3, 12.2
W Mar 20 Homework 24,25 Kepler's 1st Law
(Board) (Slides) (Ephemeris Generator) 		FA: Chapter 3.1
As: Chapter 3.1.1
F Mar 22 Homework 26,27 Kepler's 2nd & 3rd Laws
(Board)
As: Chapter 3.1.2-3.1.3
M Mar 25 Homework 28 Albedo
(Board) (Slides)
As: Chapter 8.2
W Mar 27 Homework 29 Gas Giants
(Slides) (Titan Movie) . 		FA: Chapter 11, 12.1-12.3
As: Chapter 10.2, 12.1
F Mar 29 Terrestrial Planets
(Slides) 		FA: Chapter 7.1-7.3, 9, 10
As: Chapter 10.1
M Apr 01 Homework 30 Asteroids, Kupier Belt, Comets
(Slides) 		FA: Chapter 12.4, 13
As: Chapter 11
W Apr 03 Homework 31 Exoplanets RV Method
(Slides) (RV Movie) 		FA: Chapter 21.3-21.6
As: Chapter 12.3 - 12.4
F Apr 05 Homework 32 Exoplanets Transit Method
(Slides) (Transit Video) 		FA: Chapter
As: Chapter
M Apr 08 Homework 33,34 Redshift
(Slides) (Board) 		FA:
As: Chapter 5.6
W Apr 10 Homework 35 Hubble Law
(Slides) (Board) . 		FA: Chapter 20.4-20.5
As: Chapter 26.5
F Apr 12 Homework 36,37 Dark Matter
(Slides) 		FA: Chpater 19.2
As: Chapter 28.4
M Apr 15 NO CLASS
W Apr 17 Properties of Galaxies
(Slides) Curtis-Shapley Debate Why Spiral Arms? 		FA: Chapter 20.1 - 20.4
As: Chapters 26.1-26.3
F Apr 19 Homework 38 Evolution of Galaxies
(Slides) 		FA: Chapter 21-22
As: Chapter 27-28
M Apr 22 Homework 39 Big Bang Cosmology
(Slides) (CosmoCalc) 		FA: Chapter 23.1
As: Chapter 29
W Apr 24 NO CLASS
F Apr 26 Scale Factor
(Slides) (Board) 		FA: Chapters 23.2, 23.4
As:
M Apr 29 Evolution of Universe
(Slides) (Board) 		FA: Chapter 24
As:
W May 01 Evolution of Life/Astrobiology
(Slides) 		FA:
As: Chapter 8,30
M May 06 FINAL EXAM 10:30-12:30