Astronomy 100
Section 2, Fall 2008
Topics and Reading
Unit 1. August 25, 2008. Earth, Sun, and Sky
Reading
Topics
1. Shape and diameter of the Earth; how we know the Earth is
approximately spherical.
2. Diameter of the Earth: how it can be measured.
3. Rotation of the Earth. Direction and period; rotation poles,
equator, and latitude.
4. The sky, or celestial sphere;
horizon, celestial poles, celestial equator, celestial meridian,
declination; how they define directions; relation to
latitude.
5. Motions in the sky: rising and setting, daily paths; where the
stars rise and set.
6. Circumpolar stars.
7. Proof of rotation; the Foucault pendulum.
8. The orbit of the Earth and the path of the Sun; the ecliptic and the tilt of the
Earth's axis (the obliquity of ecliptic).
9. The equinoxes and
solstices.
10. Seasonal visibility of stars at night.
11. The seasons; origin and relation to ecliptic; solstices and
equinoxes.
12. Tropics and the arctic.
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13. Ancient
constellations (you are responsible only for the ones discussed
in class).
14. Magnitudes of stars.
15. Modern constellations; what they are and generally when
invented.
16. Star
names: proper names, Greek
letter names, Flamsteed numbers.
17.The Milky Way.
Unit 2. September 10, 2008. Moon, Planets, and Gravity
Gravity
Reading
- Text: Chapter 1, Sections 1-8 through 1-11
- Text: Chapter 2, Sections 2-1 through 2-8
- Read or examine the links below.
Topics
1. The lunar orbit; perigee and apogee
2. Phases of the Moon; rising and setting times at different
phases
3. Rotation of the Moon -- far side and near side.
4.
Earthlight on the Moon
5. Eclipses of
the Moon and Sun; conditions.
6. Sidereal and synodic periods of planets
7. Apparent motions of planets; retrograde motion
8. Phases of Mercury and Venus
9. Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Tycho
10. Kepler and Kepler's laws
11. Galileo's observations
12. Velocity, acceleration, and force
13. Newton's law of gravity
14. The nature of an orbit; the orbit as a falling body
15. Weight and weightlessness
16. Kepler's generalized laws
17. The discoveries of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto
18. Basic principles of spaceflight
Unit 3. September 22, 2008. Light and Telescopes
Reading
- Text: Chapter 3
- Spectra, down to the section
titled "The Stellar Spectral Sequence."
Topics
1. Protons, electrons, neutrons, and chemical elements.
2. The forces of nature.
3. Ions and isotopes.
4. The nature of light as an electromagnetic wave; wavelength and
frequency
5. The electromagnetic spectrum
6. Photons and energy
7. Blackbody radiation and radiation laws; the Wien Law and the
Stefan-Boltzmann law.
8.
Spectrum lines
9. Telescopes and Observatories
Unit 4. October 1, 2008. Earth and Moon
Reading
Topics
1. The relation between the Earth and Moon; ages; tides and lunar
rotation.
2. Surface features: Earth's ocean basins, continents, earthquakes,
volcanos; the Moon's highlands, craters, and maria.
3. Internal structure of the Earth and Moon: core, mantle,
crust.
4. Continental drift, convection in Earth's mantle; comparison to
the Moon.
5. Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field
6. Formation of the Moon.
Unit 5. October 8, 2008. Other Planets and Moons
Reading
- Text: Chapter 5
- Text: Section 2-13
Topics
1. Size and masses in terms of Earth
2. Mercury's ancient surface and iron interior.
3. Clouds and atmosphere of Venus; Venus as a runaway
greenhouse.
4. Volcanic Venus and its "young" surface.
5. Mars's similarity to Earth (seasons, rotation, polar
caps).
6. Mars's varied surface with craters, volcanoes, and (once)
water.
7. The controversy over the possibility of Martian life.
8. Interiors of the terrestrial planets
9. Similarities between Jupiter and Saturn
10. The outer planets' rapid rotations
11. The outer planets' clouds and storms.
12. The outer planets' internal heat.
13. The outer planets' interiors, compositions, and states of
matter
14. The big satellites of Jupiter.
15. Saturn's rings and big satellite.
16. Similarities of Uranus and Neptune.
17. How Uranus and Neptune differ from Jupiter and Saturn. Smaller
proportions of hydrogen and helium.
18. The satellites and rings of Uranus and Neptune (and
Jupiter)
19. The oddness of Pluto and its similarity with Neptune's
satellite Triton.
Unit 6. October 17, 2008. Creation and its Debris
Reading
- Text: Chapter 6
- Text: Sections 2-9 through 2-13
Topics
1. Meteorites: stones and irons; chondrites as oldest
bodies.
2. Asteroids: where they are; physical natures.
3. Relation of asteroids and meteorites; Earth-crossing asteroids
and asteroid impacts.
4. Comets: structure; the two kinds of tail and comets' relations
to the Sun.
5. Comet orbits; short period and long period; where the two kinds
come from; Oort cloud and Kuiper belt.
6. Pluto and Kuiper Belt Objects
7. Meteor showers and storms.
8. Origin of the planetary system; assembly of planets from the
dust of disk-shaped solar nebula; differentiation of planets (iron
cores); origin of heavy bombardment; water on Earth from comet
impacts; population of Oort cloud and debris left in the Kuiper
belt; Pluto as part of the Kuiper belt.
Unit 7. October 23, 2008. Sun and Stars
Reading
Note: Don't try to read the assignments all at once. Keep pace
with the lecture. We'll take up the Sun first, then go to stars.
Topics
1. Basic properties of the Sun: radius, mass, luminosity, surface
temperature, rotation.
2. Photosphere: convection and granulation; spectrum and gross
chemical composition
3. The solar corona and solar wind.
4. Sunspots as magnetic zones; sunspot cycle; active Sun phenomena
and the relation between the active Sun and the Earth.
5. Solar interior; thermonuclear reactions.
6. Distances of stars. Parallaxes and how they relate to
distance
7. Apparent and absolute magnitudes.
8. Motions of stars; radial velocities.
9. Spectra and the spectral sequence; the definitions of the
various categories of stars.
10. The HR diagram: main sequence stars (dwarfs), giants,
supergiants, subgiants, white dwarfs.
11. Luminosity classes
12. Carbon stars
13. Double stars and the mass-luminosity relation; the main
sequence as mass sequence.
14. Brown dwarfs; L and T stars.
15. Star clusters.
16. Lifetimes of stars
Unit 8. November 8, 2008. Stellar Evolution
Reading
Again, do not read the material all at once; keep up with the
lecture.
Topics
1. Gas in the interstellar medium: diffuse nebulae; interstellar
clouds.
2. Interstellar dust; globules and molecular clouds
3. Star formation: gravitational contraction and the formation of
disks.
4. Other planetary systems.
5. Lifetimes of stars on the main sequence
6. Hydrogen exhaustion and the creation of giant stars
7. Helium burning in giants, helium exhaustion, and the second
ascent of the giant branch
8. Mass loss and the creation of planetary nebulae
9. White dwarfs and the Chandrasekhar limit
10. Evolution of high mass stars and the creation of
supergiants
11. Nuclear burning to an iron core, supernovae, and the creation
of the elements
12. Neutron stars, pulsars, and black holes
13. White dwarf supernovae
Unit 9. November 19, 2008. Galaxies and the Universe
Reading
- Text: Chapter 11
- Text: Chapter 12
Topics
1. Structure of the Galaxy: disk, halo and their differences; the
likely nature of the nucleus.
2. Dimensions of Galaxy.
3. The mass of the luminous Galaxy and the existence of dark
matter.
4. Age and evolution of the Galaxy; increase of metal content with
time; the role of mergers.
5. Kinds of galaxies: spirals, ellipticals, irregulars.
6. Distances to other galaxies; Cepheid variables.
7. Masses of other galaxies and dark matter.
8. Clusters of galaxies.
9. Active galaxies; the likelihood of massive black holes at the
centers of galaxies.
10. The velocity-distance (Hubble) relation; the meaning of the
redshift, z, and the expansion of the Universe.
11. The Big Bang, the Hubble constant, and the age of the
Universe.
12. The cosmic background radiation.
13. Expansion models. The curvature of the Universe.
14. The origin and evolution of the Universe; formation of
galaxies.
15. Acceleration of the expansion and dark energy.