The tests counts as 50% of the grade,
Exercises and HW count as 15%,
the Research project as 15%
and the final exam as 20%
The research project may, with my permission, consist of a term paper researching a topic in astrophysics, but I would rather it be an observational project using archived data or data we collect as part of the class. It depends on the weather and the long delayed observatory construction whether we can collect our own data. Due dates on the research project will be announced as we get deeper into the class.
| Monday | January 12 | No class |
| Tuesday | January 13 | Lab meets at NSU observatory |
| Wednesday | January 14 | Astronomical coordinate systems, star charts, finding objects in SIMBAD |
| Friday | January 16 | Online resources, Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Begin vector mechanics. |
| ------------- | ||
| Monday | January 19 | Polar coordinates and polar unit vectors, cross products, dot products, angular momentum conservation and Kepler's 2nd Law. |
| Tuesday | January 20 | computer lab, learning to use Starry Night by
finding asteroids.
Exercise: Asteroid lab handout |
| Wednesday | January 21 | Centripetal force and Kepler's 3rd Law, circular and elliptical orbits. Energy conservation. |
| Friday | January 23 | Kepler's 1st law: integrating to get r(q) |
| ------------- | ||
| Monday | January 26 | HW work day:
do the problem sheet on orbits. This is
HW#1 from Kleppner:
Ch 9 - 7,8,9,10 |
| Tuesday | January 27 | Computer lab, JAVA orbit programs (sorry, the
compiler isn't installed on all the computer yet but it is available in
2nd floor labs).
Exercise: modify twobody3.java program to calculate three bodies at the vertices of an equilateral triangle moving on a circle. It will be unstable! |
| Wednesday | January 28 | The solar system, escape orbits,
potential energy and bound motion, comets, planets, etc. HW#2 Chapter 2 problems from Zeilik: Ch 2 -2, 7, 9, 14, 16 |
| Friday | January 30 | No class: Extended Weekend |
| ------------- | ||
| Monday | February 2 | I was sick and missed this day. The handout
was given on Wednesday...
Handout: sample test questions |
| Tuesday | February 3 | Either computer lab or extra-solar planets
lab. We went with the lab!
Exercise: the extra-solar planets lab |
| Wednesday | February 4 |
Blackbody radiation laws and equilibrium temperatures in the solar system. |
| Friday | February 6 | Test#1 sample test questions |
| ----------- | ||
| Monday | February 9 | formation of the solar system: interstellar
gas, interstellar clouds, and star formation regions. HW#3 Chapter 7 and 10 problems from Zeilik: Ch 7- 3,5,6, 12; Ch 10- 15 |
| Tuesday | February 10 | radiation laws and star colors |
| Wednesday | February 11 | kinetic and potential energy of an interstellar cloud |
| Friday | February 13 | more of the same...
|
| Monday | February 16 | I missed this day due to doctor's appointment. |
| Tuesday | February 17 | collapse of proto-stellar clouds (Maple notes) |
| Wednesday | February 18 | angular momentum and collapse, Hydrostatic equilibrium equations |
| Friday | February 20 | Pressure and ideal gas law (20 minute class!) |
| Mardi Gras break | Feb 23-25 | ---------------------------------------------- |
| Friday | February 27 | deviations from hydrostatic equilibrium, free fall time, collision cross sections, and atomic structure |
| Saturday | February 28 | atomic structure and opacity HW#4
from Zeilik
Ch 12-12; Ch13- 4,12,16; Ch 16-5,6 |
| Monday | March 1 | |
| Tuesday | March 2 | HW and test review day |
| Wednesday | March 3 | |
| Friday | March 5 | Test #2 |
| April | HW#5 Zeilik, Ch 18 - 3, 9, 12, 16 |