1. ASTRONOMY 210 foundations of astronomy
Office Hours:
Paul Coleman:MWF (10:30-11:30 & 12:30-13:30)
Watanabe 423
Course details and notes:

2. Cell phones on vibrate please!
Phasers on Stun!!
Cell phones on vibrate please!

3. ASTRONOMY 240 a survey of astronomy
Required TEXT:
Provided by Instructor… (plus updates)

4. Possible Grading Schemes:
2 – 3 midterm exams + final + etc.
Weekly quizzes + optional final + etc.
No work at all
Wheel of misfortune !!
Homework
Extra curricular extra credit
Imaginarium visit
Faulkes telescope observing
Evening lecture(s)
Stargazing
A research paper
bad grade
good grade

5. ASTRONOMY 240 a survey of astronomy
Every Week:
Monday: Return quiz from previous week – Update on your progress
Wednesday: Collect homework and give solutions
Friday: Quiz, Solution, and Homework and Reading assignment

6. 90 – 100 A
80 – 89.9 B
70 – 79.9 C
60 – 69.9 D
< F
plus or minus grades also

7. Homework problem:
Send an to Dr. Coleman before Friday January 13… Tell him the magic word

8. Our Place in the Universe

9. A Modern View of the Universe
Our goals for learning:
What is our physical place in the Universe?
Describe our cosmic origins and why we say that we are “star stuff.”
Why does looking into space mean looking back in time?

10. Address: Earth
How would the Universal post office find us?

11. Star
A large, glowing ball of gas that generates heat and light through nuclear fusion

12. Planet
A moderately large object which orbits a star; it shines by reflected light. Planets may be rocky, icy, or gaseous in composition.

13. Moon
An object which orbits a planet.

14. Asteroid
A relatively small and rocky object which orbits a star.

15. Comet
A relatively small and icy object which orbits a star.

16. Solar (Star) System
A star and all the material which orbits it, including its planets and moons

17. Nebula
An interstellar cloud
of gas and/or dust

18. Galaxy
A great island of stars in space, all held together by gravity and orbiting a common center

19. Universe
The sum total of all matter and energy; that is, everything within and between all galaxies

20. Microscopic “building blocks” of all chemical elements
Atom
Microscopic “building blocks” of all chemical elements

21. Where do we come from?
The first (and simplest) atoms were created during the Big Bang.
More complex atoms were created in stars.
When the star dies, they are expelled into space…. to form new stars and planets!
Most of the atoms in our bodies were created in the core of a star!

22. Looking back in time Light, although fast, travels at a finite speed.
It takes:
8 minutes to reach us from the Sun
8 years to reach us from Sirius (8 light-years away)
1,500 years to reach us from the Orion Nebula
The farther out we look into the Universe, the farther back in time we see!