Instructor's office hours: MW, 2:00-3:30
Instructor's office: 507 Davey Lab
Instructor's phone: (814) 865-3509
The observable Universe is a time machine - the only one we have. When we look outward in space we also look back in time. In this course we will travel from the Solar System to the edge of the observable Universe. In so doing, we will venture back to the beginning of time. We will calibrate our place in the Universe.
LECTURES: The lectures are designed to explain difficult
concepts, to stimulate interest in the reading material, to
expand on the reading material, and to
introduce topics not covered in the textbook. You are
responsible for the material presented in the lectures, including
topics not covered in the textbook. At the ends of most lectures I will
give one or two multiple-choice questions and ask you to answer them.
Some of these questions may be on the exams.
You are encouraged to ask questions during the lectures. This
is your opportunity, so take it! Also, if I am lecturing too fast
or something is not clear please feel free to tell me, and I'll be
happy to go over the material again.
REQUIRED READING: The required textbook
for this course is
Horizons: Exploring the Universe
(7th Edition) by Michael A. Seeds. You will
read the majority of the textbook over the course of the
semester. The reading schedule is given below. Note that we do not
read through the book in a perfectly sequential manner. Do not
worry about this since I have designed the reading and
lectures so that each reading assignment will make sense on its own.
Your best strategy will be to do the assigned reading prior to
the day the material is discussed in class. This will allow you to ask
questions on material you do not understand. You are responsible for
the material in the assigned reading, and you should
pay particular attention to the figures and figure captions.
Although you are not required to
work the questions and problems in the book, if
you do these on your own this will help you prepare for exams. The
book is good, and it is well organized to help you study.
There is a CD-ROM that is included with the textbook.
You are not responsible for the material on this CD-ROM
(unless the same material is also covered in class or
in the assigned reading). However, you may
find the CD-ROM interesting and helpful for
parts of the course.
WORLD WIDE WEB PAGE: A World Wide Web page has been created
for this course, and its address is the
following: *****.
I will provide more information about the World Wide Web page as the
course progresses.
EXAMS AND GRADING: Four (4) quizzes and one (1) final exam
will be given. All will consist of multiple-choice questions based on
material covered in the lectures and required reading.
The dates for the quizzes are given below in the lecture list.
Your lowest quiz will be dropped, and the remaining three (3)
will each constitute 23 per cent of your grade. Since one quiz
may be dropped, no makeup quizzes are given except in cases of
(1) medical emergencies documented by an official physician's note and
(2) documented absences on official university business.
In these cases you must contact me as soon as possible regarding
the makeup quiz, and the format of the quiz will be at the
discretion of the instructor.
The tentative date, time, and location for the final exam are
the following: Wednesday, Dec 18 from 2:30-4:20 p.m. in 102 Forum.
The University has only assigned this information tentatively
at present, so please be certain to check it closer to the
time of the final exam. The final exam will cover material for
the entire semester, as well as serve as the quiz for the last
portion of the course. The final exam will count for 31 per cent
of your grade. The final cannot be dropped, so do not
skip the final!
Calculators cannot be used for the quizzes or the final exam.
I have carefully designed the questions so that
calculators are not necessary.
The multiple-choice questions on the quizzes and final exam
will be graded by an advanced computer
run by the University Testing Service. Experience has shown the
University Testing Service to be highly reliable, and to date
I have not found a case where a form was misgraded. However, if
you feel there has been a problem of some sort I will be happy to
check on this and correct any problem. Please contact me
within 3 weeks of receiving your grade if you feel there is
something wrong. Please contact me directly rather than talking to
a secretary or teaching assistant. Please do not wait until
the end of the term to bring any possible problem to my attention,
since it may be difficult to correct if it is left too long.
This course is supposed to teach you about the main important aspects
of astronomy rather than lots of small details. The quizzes and final
will be designed to probe your understanding of the main important
aspects. I try to avoid asking `trick questions' and
questions about small details. The main important aspects will be
clearly emphasized in class and in the book.
A class period prior to the exams is devoted to review
and questions you may have on the material. This review class is
designed to help you prepare for the exam.
INTEGRITY STATEMENT: This course follows the Astronomy & Astrophysics
Department and College integrity policies. Descriptions of these policies are
given as links off the course World Wide Web page. You are responsible for
abiding by these policies, so please review them.
OFFICE HOURS AND QUESTIONS: You are encouraged to come to my
office hours for help with the course material or to ask any
questions you may have about astronomy. If you
cannot make the appointed times, please phone to make an
appointment (my office hours and phone number are
given at the top of the first page).
Also feel free to phone me to ask any questions you have
about astronomy or the course in general. If you are
unhappy about something in the course please let me know,
and I'll try to fix it. I prefer
phone calls to email, but if you are uncomfortable with
phoning (or are having trouble reaching me by phone) then
feel free to send email (wnbrandt @ gmail.com).
OPTIONAL READING: There are many excellent books that
explain various astronomy topics at an introductory level.
One book that may be of particular interest is
The Stars: A New Way to See Them
by H.A. Rey.
This book clearly explains the constellations, the motions of
celestial objects, and other `practical astronomy' topics.
If you have a burning desire to learn the constellations, then
this is a great book for you.
There are many other good introductory astronomy books on
topics such as
the Hubble Space Telescope,
star formation,
supernovae,
black holes,
the Galaxy, and
cosmology.
I will not list books here, but if you are
interested in a particular topic please feel free to contact
me and I'll do my best to suggest a good book.
For absolute clarity, let me state that optional reading is
not
required to do well in this course, and you should not feel
compelled to buy optional books. Optional
reading is only mentioned to
help those who have special interest in a particular area
and want to go beyond what is covered in class.