Welcome to Astronomy 141. Through this course you’ll have an understanding of the sky, Earth, Moon and the Sun, the solar system and the universe. This laboratory course introduces the fundamentals of astronomy such as: the apparent motion of the sky, Sun, Moon and planets; the nature of light; gravity; the properties of planets; the life cycles of stars; and the structure of the universe. Laboratory and computer exercises will be used, and we will conduct one nighttime lab.
As the learning outcomes, students who succeed in this course may eventually respond to:
- How does the process of science work, and how does that process manifest itself in astronomy?
- How is astronomy of practical use? How has astronomy impacted our understanding of our world?
- What is a planet, and how are planets similar to—and different from—one another?
- What is the interior of the Earth like, and how do we know?
- What is a star? How are the stars similar to and different from one another?
- How did the universe get started? What is likely to happen to the universe in the distant future?
Syllabus can be found now in “Syllabus“. Please refer to the syllabus of your respective section for the course schedule. The lecture schedule (especially the test dates) will be updated according to our progress throughout the semester, so please be alerted when you receive an updated version of the syllabus.
Lecture notes and recordings (if any) will be uploaded after each individual lecture, in “Lecture“. Textbook information can be found in “Textbooks“.
Our lab manuals are already uploaded in “Labs“. It is strongly recommended that you read through the manuals and have the idea of what will be done in the labs on the day.
All the completed lab reports should be submitted through Blackboard submission of the lab. All the assignments will be uploaded in Blackboard too and once finished, submit through Blackboard.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions throughout the semester.
Sincerely, The Astronomy 141 team,
Prof. Tim Paglione ([email protected])
Vanessa Brown ([email protected])
Billy Chaklis ([email protected])
Yuzhe Song ([email protected])
Girija Dubey ([email protected])
