Astronomy 1010 Planetary Astronomy Fall_2015 Day-1

Astronomy 1010 Planetary Astronomy  MWF 1325 – 1420  Sundquist Science Center E106B  Dr. Allyn Smith 

Instructor: Dr. Allyn Smith Office: SSC B – 329 (go in through B-332) Hours: MWF 1000 – 1100; T or by appointment Phone:

21st Century Astronomy: The Solar System, 4th Edition by Kay, Palen, Smith & Blumenthal Lecture Tutorials for Introductory Astronomy, 3rd Edition by, Prather, Slater, Adams & Brissenden Textbooks

Course Announcements Smartworks Practice: Due Fri. (Aug. 28) Smartworks Chapter 1: Due Wed. (Sep. 2) Read Chapter 1 (if you haven’t already) Read Chapter 2.1, 2.2 Still time to register for ASTR-2010 – Problems in Planetary Astronomy Wednesdays, E-118 Introduction to Observational Astronomy Wednesdays, B-310

Course Announcements - 2 Clarksville Astronomy Club meeting Tuesday Aug. 25 – 7:30pm – Sears Planetarium Mt. Vesuvius eruption in 79 A.D. Sun.-Mon. Sept – total lunar eclipse: Pending weather, we will be at the observatory for this. All are welcome to join us. Begins: Sun, Sep 27, 2015 at 7:11 PM Maximum: Sun, Sep 27, 2015 at 9:47 PM Ends: Mon, Sep 28, 2015 at 12:22 AM Duration: 5 hours, 11 minutes

Home Work - 1 Between now and class time on FRIDAY. Turn in Friday at class time: Go outside, at night, and look at the sky. Try to avoid street lights. Sketch what you see. Bright stars, the moon (show phase), and some “local” landmarks. 1-3 hours later, repeat. What changed?

Definitions & Terms -1 Syllabus: Plan for the class, loosely, your contract. Cell Phone: Demon spawn of the devil. Use in class is prohibited. Failure to heed this may cost you up to 1.5 letter grades. Hat: A covering of the head to protect the hair. Worn by women indoors or out. Men wear them outdoors only. Coffee: the drink of life, especially in the mornings.

Definitions & Terms -2 Planet: A body which: Orbits the star in the stellar system, Has enough mass to self-gravitate to a spherical shape; Has cleared its orbit of similar-sized debris. “Solar System”: The group of planets and our star which they orbit. Galaxy: An assemblage of stars, planets, dust, gas … In the case of our galaxy “The Milky Way” we’re talking about 400,000,000,000 stars.

Five-Minute Essay  My name is… (LEGIBLY!!)  I am taking ASTR 1010 because…  In ASTR 1010 I hope to learn about …  When I graduate I hope to…  Three important things that happened this summer were …

Lab This Week Astronomy on the Internet In General: ClassAction Web Site (Link from apsu.edu/astronomy) Print the instructions BEFORE you come to class!

If you are interested in math… ASTR 2010: Problems in Planetary Astronomy meets Wednesdays at 1600 (E118). It is a one- hour class that only meets once a week. We will do some of the problems from the back of the chapters that involve math as well as supplemental problems. The math level is basic algebra. If you are interested, see Dr. Buckner to sign up for the class. It may be planetary but much of the material is also applicable for stellar. ASTR 2020 Problems in Stellar is a spring class.

And, If you are interested in (more) observing… ASTR-2011: Introduction to Observational Astronomy meets Wednesdays at 1830 (B310). It is a one-hour class that only meets once a week. It is an introduction top observing and use of telescopes. It is intended to be “under the stars” as much as the weather allows. This will “release” you from the observing report for this class.