Astronomy 11
Stellar Astronomy
greensheet

Instructor:
Douglas Epperson
Office: SM43C
Voice Mail: 408-741-4662
email: [email protected] (Be sure to put "Astro 11" in the subject line.)
Office Hours: M 3:00-4:00PM; Tu 2:30 - 4:00PM; W 1:00 - 2:00PM; or by appointment

Notes:

Reading (Read before class on date given.)
2/4 Chapter 1, Chapter 2 Sections 1 and 2
2/11 Chapter 2 Section 3; Chapter S1 Section 2 (Chapter S1 is after Chapter 3 in the text.)
3/10 Chapter 3
3/24 Chapter 4

Recommended Textbook Problems (Not to be handed in. They are recommended done by the given date.)
2/7 Chapter 1 : 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
2/13 Chapter 2: 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 20, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 
2/13 Chapter S1: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 20, 21, 22, 23, 29, 30, 31, 32
3/19 Chapter 2: 12, 14, 15, 16, 24, 26, 33, 35, 36
3/19 Chapter 3: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 22, 24, 25, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35
4/23 Chapter 4: 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 19, 20, 21, 22, 29, 30, 32, 34, 35, 36
4/23 Chapter 5: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38

Homework (SG = Stargazer CD ROM workbook assignments, MA = Mastering Astronomy Tutorial Website)
(Assignments due by start of class on date given.)
2/7 Sign up for Mastering Astronomy (course id: SPRING2008EPPERSON)
2/7 MA Scale of the Universe
2/7 SG #1 (Hand in worksheet and answer quiz on MA)
2/20 SG #3 (Hand in worksheet and answer quiz on MA)
2/20 MA Seasons
3/12 SG #11 (Hand in worksheet and answer quiz on MA)
3/12 SG #12 (Hand in worksheet and answer quiz on MA)
3/12 MA Lunar Phases Tutorial
3/12 MA Eclipses Tutorial
3/19 MA "Assignment 3"
3/19 MA Kepler's Laws Tutorial
4/23 MA Motion and Gravity Tutorial
4/23 MA Light and Spectroscopy Tutorial
4/23 MA Assignment #4
4/23 MA Assignment #5

Lecture Tutorials: The lecture tutorials are an important part of the course.  They are handed out in lecture and are not to be turned in.  Many of the exam questions will come from the lecture tutorials.  Following is a list of the tutorials that we have done.
1/31 Position
2/5 Motion
2/7 Seasonal Stars
2/7 Ecliptic
Star Charts
Path of the Sun
Seasons
The Cause of Moon Phases
Predicting Moon Phases
Observing Retrograde Motion
Pythagoras through Copernicus (handout to follow lecture)
Brahe through Newton (handout to follow lecture)
Kepler's Second Law
Newton's Laws and Gravity

Star Party: (5% of your grade)
Below is an observation sheet for download.  Write on the sheet where you went and when. Draw sketches of what you observed and tell me what it is a sketch of. On the back of the sheet, summarize anything interesting that the astronomers might tell you.  For lecture you need to go to a star party on or off of campus and observe three different kinds of things, single stars don't count.  Examples of types of things are: several types of nebulas, star cluster, binary star, planet and its moons, our moon, our sun (seen through the appropriate telescope of course), spiral galaxy, eliptical galaxy, ...(did I forget anything)? If you are doing the observations for lab, you still need to do three more observations for lecture. There will be one star party on campus.  It will be announced later.  If it gets rained (or clouded) out, it will not be rescheduled and you will still need to do the observations.  Local star parties are conducted by various clubs.  Below is a list of the clubs.  On there web pages will be listed the dates and locations of public star parties.

Observation sheet
Star Clubs in the Area

Links
Mastering Astronomy

Exam Dates
Wednesday, Feb. 20
Wednesday, March 19
Wednesday, April 23
Wednesday, May21 9:40-11:40AM