Instructor: Dr. Jon Holtzman
Office: Department of Astronomy, Room 202B
Office hours: By appointment, but generally available: immediately after class is a good time
Phone: 646-8181
Email: holtz@nmsu.edu
Web information: http://astronomy.nmsu.edu/holtz/a110
Class time: 11:30-12:20 Monday, Wednesday and Friday, in Biology Annex 102
Lab time: EITHER Monday 12:30-2:30 pm, Monday 2:30-4:30 pm, OR Tuesday 5:30-7:30 pm in Biology Annex 102. You MUST enroll in the lab to pass this class; you should have already registered for one of these lab sections (2A, 2B, or 2C); if not, please do so immediately. Attendance at the lab is MANDATORY.
Campus Observatory: you will need to visit the campus observatory once a month; it will be open several days each week. See attached Observatory information/objects pages; more details will be given in lab.
Teaching Assistants: Jillian Bornak, jbornak@nmsu.edu, Astronomy Room 112, phone 646-6399, office hours TBD and by appointment; Liz Klimek, eklimek@nmsu.edu, Astronomy Room 107, phone 646-4834, office hours TBD and by appointment. Both TAs have mailboxes in Astronomy Room 101.
Textbook/supplementary materials:
We will be using an online database of tutorials and problems during this
class. You are required to purchase access to this database.
This can be done online at
www.masteringastronomy.com.
When you purchase access online, you need to click on the book ``The Cosmic
Perspective'', and then hit the ''Buy Now'' button; the cost is $27.00.
Instructions on using the online database will be given in class/lab,
but, for reference, the course ID name is ASTR110FALL07.
I cover the material in my own way, so we will not be exactly following any textbook, and consequently, purchase of a textbook is optional. However, the textbook can be a very useful supplement. If you decide to purchase a textbook, find a used one in the bookstore: any are OK, but ``The Cosmic Perspective'' is a good one that is a companion to the online exercise. Note, however, that the lecture material defines the class, not the book material. If you get a book, read it; I am happy to show anyone what sections correspond to what we are covering. I also have several textbooks that I am willing to loan out for the semester; please come see me. Class notes are available on the class web site.
Lab text: AY 110G Lab Manual, available at Kinkos for about $18. This is required. You must buy the Fall 2007 version.
Grades will be based on:
Quizzes | 15% |
Homework | 10% |
Lab reports | 30% |
Midterm 1 | 12.5% |
Midterm 2 | 12.5% |
Final | 20% |
There will also be a small amount of extra credit available in the labs, which the TAs will discuss. Most likely, a minimum grade of 50-60% will be required to barely pass the class.
Attendance policy: Attendance at every lecture is highly recommended. This is especially true since we will not be following a specific textbook. Attendance will be taken at each lecture using a signup sheet, and this will be used, in part, to judge interest on the part of each student. The attendance record will be consulted to determine grades for borderline cases. When you come to class, you are expected to be polite with respect to other, e.g., no cell phones or talking in class. Sitting in the back row will only be allowed if all other seats are occupied.
Laboratory sections meet once a week. You must sign up
for one of the Monday or Tuesday sections (2A, 2B, or 2C),
and you must attend the same section for the whole semester. Registration
in the lab is mandatory; you cannot pass the class if you do not
pass the lab requirements. We will drop your two lowest lab grades of the
semester, but no make-up labs will be provided.
Late lab reports will be accepted only if you received prior approval for
turning in a report late, which will be granted only for valid excuses.
Specific lab policies for your section are discussed in the attached
lab syllabus.
The lab reports are an important part of this class, as they constitute most of the out-of-class writing which is required. Because this course satisfies a general education requirement, writing is an essential component of the course. Consequently, each lab report is required to include a description of the problem that the lab addresses and the techniques used to solve it, and a final discussion summarizing what was learned. It is important that these parts of the labs are written clearly and in good english. Lab reports must be turned in at the beginning of the next lab section; exceptions will only be granted if the TA is approached in advance and if you have a valid excuse. You may collaborate with a partner of your choice in the lab, but every person must hand in their own individually-prepared lab report.
The first lab will meet the week of August 27.
Occasional quizzes (every two or three weeks)
will be given; I plan to give 4 over the course of the semester. Quizzes
will usually be based on lecture material discussed in class since the
last exam or quiz. Earlier material may also be included in the quizzes,
but generally this will only be done where the earlier material relates to
recent material. Your final quiz score will be made up from the highest
three individual quiz grades. Arrangements for make-up quizzes can be
made if you had a valid excuse for missing a quiz, but these
arrangements must be made with the instructor within one week
of the original quiz date.
There will also be weekly homework assignments using the
online database at www.masteringastronomy.com; these are intended to help your understanding
and provide additional information for interested students. Only the
top five homework grades will count towards the final homework score, so
you do not need to do more than this if you don't want to; the more you
do, however, the higher your best scores are likely to be, and the
additional homework practice and review will likely help your quiz and
exam performance.
There are also online tutorials at www.masteringastronomy.com; the relevant tutorials are given in the attached class schedule. These are not for credit, but are likely to help you to develop your understanding of the material.
Midterm exams will be given on 10/3 and 11/2
and will be on all the material covered up to those
dates. A final exam will be given on Wednesday, 12/12 from
10:30a-12:30p which will cover the entire course, but with emphasis
on the last section. These exams will include multiple choice
questions, true/false questions, and short answer/problem questions.
If for some reason it is impossible to make one of the exams, you must
arrange a makeup plan with the instructor before the exam;
no makeup exams will be given to anyone notifying me after the exam has
already taken place without an exceptional excuse.
I strongly encourage oral participation in both classes and
labs; this is the best way you can demonstrate your interest and your
ability to formulate good questions about the material. I'm also willing
to address issues in which you might have special interest. For people
with borderline grades, active participation can make a difference in
your final grade! What I am looking for here is a demonstration of
interest and thought about the material.
If you are taking this class S/U, you mush achieve at least a
C grade to receive an S.
An incomplete in this class will be given only when the student
is passing the class and is precluded from successful completion of the
course due to circumstances beyond his/her control. These
circumstances must have developed after the last day to withdraw for the
class (October 16). Appropriate circumstances include documented illness,
documented death or crisis in the student's immediate family, or similar
circumstances. Job related problems are not appropriate grounds for
an incomplete. You must be doing passing work at the time of the request
in order to be granted an incomplete.
Any student who has not taken the first midterm and missed one
or more of the quizzes may be withdrawn automatically on October 15.
Tuesday, October 16 is the last date that you can withdraw the class on your
own initiative.
Plagiarism is a serious offense. It is your responsibility to
understand what plagiarism means, to be aware that both intentional
and unintentional plagiarism is prohibited, and to be aware that
plagiarism extends to material found online. See
http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/plagiarismforstudents.htm
for more
information.
Feel free to call Jerry Nevarez, Director of Institutional Equity, at
505-646-3635 with any questions you may have about NMSU's
Non-Discrimination Policy and complaints of discrimination, including
sexual harassment.
Feel free to call Michael Armendariz, Coordinator of Services for
Students with Disabilities, at 505-646-6840 with any questions you may
have on student issues related to the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) and/or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. All medical
information will be treated confidentially.
This class satisfies the New Mexico general education requirement for
a laboratory science. This requirement is designed to help student become
competent in the following five areas:
The class is designed to attempt to educate in these areas through examples in
astronomy. Of course, we also hope that students come away from the class with
increased interest and knowledge in general astronomy!
Many of the core competencies are addressed through the laboratory section, so
students are urged to spend some time and effort thinking about the labs and
handing in assignments that reflect this thought.
The class is split up into four main sections, as listed below. Some of the
questions we will address in each section are also given:
This provides a rough schedule for when we will be covering the different
topics. However, my philosophy is to take the time that we need to
understand the different issues, and this is more important than sticking
to the schedule. So this schedule is likely to be only approximate.
The assignments, except for quizzes and midterms, refer to assignments
in www.masteringastronomy.com. Note that these will always be due Friday 5:00. If they are
completed late, they will automatically be given reduced credit;
if not completed by the following Monday, they will be give no credit at all.
However, only the top five homework assignments will be counted towards
your final grade; the idea of this is to encourage you to do the
assignments if you want to do well; they will also likely help you
with the quizzes and midterms. When you do the online assignments, take
advantage of the online feedback so that you go away from the problems
understanding more, whether you got them correct or not.
Week | Subjects | On-line tutorials | Assignments |
8/27-8/31 | Introduction: astronomy, science. Astronomy and astrology. Overview: solar system | Introduction to MasteringAstronomy | |
9/5-9/7 | Overview of objects in the Universe: Milky Way galaxy, galaxies. The universe: expansion, age, etc. | Solar System Overview | |
9/10-9/14 | Distances in astronomy; powers of 10. What do we see in the sky, and motions in general. | Scales of the Universe | Overview of the Universe; Quiz |
9/17-9/21 | Rotation of Earth. Revolution of Earth and seasons. Revolution of moon, eclipses. | Seasons, Phases of the Moon, Eclipses | Sky and seasons |
9/24-9/28 | Motion of planets. History of astronomy. Kepler's laws. | Orbits and Kepler's Law | Moon; Quiz |
10/1-10/5 | Motions: definitions and Newton's laws. Law of gravity. | Motion and Gravity | Motion of Planets/Kepler's laws; Midterm |
10/8-10/12 | Orbits. Origin of angular momentum in the solar system. Rockets, weightlessness, etc. Gravity as a mass probe, gravity and dark matter. | Detecting Dark Matter in Spiral Galaxies | Newton's Laws/Gravity |
10/15-10/19 | Light: spectra and Kirchoff's laws, spectra and astronomical objects. What can we learn from light: continuous spectra. Reddening. | Light and Spectroscopy | Orbits/Dark matter; Quiz |
10/22-10/26 | Emission and absorption line spectra. Doppler shift. What can we learn from brightnesses of objects? | Doppler Shift, Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram | Light |
10/29-11/2 | The solar system: classes of planets, composition of planetary atmospheres. | Spectra/Doppler shift; Midterm 2 | |
11/5-11/9 | Earth, physical processes on planets. Moon; Mercury; Venus, greenhouse effect. | Shaping Planetary Surfaces | Classes of planets |
11/12-11/16 | Mars. Outer planets. Origin of solar system. | Terrestrial planets | |
11/26-11/30 | Age of solar system. Extrasolar planets. The sun: nuclear reactions, energy transfer. Observations that support the solar model. | Detecting Extrasolar Planets | Outer planets/extrasolar planets; Quiz |
12/3-12/7 | The sun: evolution. Stars: evolution, observations, clusters/HR diagram | Stellar Evolution | The Sun |
Week | Date | Lab# | Lab Name |
1 | 8/27 | -,1 | Introduction to online resources, labs, and campus observatory |
3 | 9/10 | 13 | Mapping the galaxy |
4 | 9/17 | 14 | Galaxy Morphology |
5 | 9/24 | 8 | Measuring distances using parallax |
6 | 10/1 | 6 | Kepler's laws and gravitation II. |
7 | 10/8 | 7 | The Orbit of Mercury |
8 | 10/15 | 9 | Optics |
9 | 10/22 | 10 | The Power of Light: Understanding spectroscopy |
10 | 10/29 | 12 | The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram |
11 | 11/5 | 3 | Shaping surfaces in the solar system |
12 | 11/12 | 4 | Introduction to the geology of the terrestrial planets |
13 | 11/26 | 2 | The Surface of the Moon |
14 | 12/3 | - |
Please note that the order we do the labs in this class is not the order in which they are arranged in the lab manual. Read the correct lab for each week before you come to lab! This is because the same lab manual is used by other ASTR110 section; since different classes emphasize different things and do things in different orders, there is no single order that is applicable to all classes. For the same reason, there are some labs in the manuals that we will not do at all.
During your first lab, your TA may distribute a more detailed schedule that includes due dates for the labs and various lab projects.
Lab Description
Lab is comprised of weekly indoor labs and long-term outdoor labs.
The lab sections are taught and run by the TAs; if you have questions about
labs or lab policies, consult with them first, but the professor
has ultimate responsibility for both class and labs, so feel free to come
to him/her if you have any unresolved issues.
Indoor Labs
EXERCISE (65 points): This section is completed in groups. You will work in
groups of 3-5 people in the lab to answer questions from lab materials. Then
each group will hand in one write-up with names of members included. It is
important that the write-up are done neatly; illegible handwriting cannot
(and will not) be graded.
SUMMARY: (35 points): This section is to be completed at home on an individual
basis. Summaries are to be typed or well-written in black or blue ink. They
should be between around 1 page typed (double spaced) or 1-2 pages
hand written (double spaced).
Write-ups for both exercise and summary will be due at the beginning of the
next lab meeting. Those submitted after that will be considered late.
Outdoor Labs
These are long-term projects that are worth 100-200 points, so you
should take them seriously and not wait until they are due.
CAMPUS OBSERVATORY: You must take monthly observations at the campus
observatory, i.e. you will need to visit the campus observatory once
each month; there will be a TA present during times given below.
If you go early in the month, you will likely be able
to get done quicker, as there are usually less people present. Also,
remember, the weather is unpredictable, so saving thing for the last
few nights in a month can be dangerous!
We would like you to go to the observatory and look at several objects
that the TA is showing. You should then hand in a written description of
the object (color, shape, etc.); in addition, we would like you to look
up one fact about each object and write it down along with your object description.
HOME OBSERVING PROJECT(s): Details will be given during lab.
Late Submission
There will be a 10 percent penalty for each day after the due date. No points
will be given after a week. If you have a valid excuse (medical reasons,
etc.), talk to your TA, but you have to show proof of your claim. Late
submission can be handed to your TA in person or dropped in their mailbox.
Participation
As mentioned in the ASTR 110G Lab Syllabus, you are expected to attend all the
lab meetings. Attendance will be taken. Note that the TWO lowest indoor lab scores
will be dropped. NO outdoor lab scores will be dropped (i.e. home observing
project and observatory notebook scores will not be dropped).
Grades
Labs are worth 100 points, Home observing project is worth 200 points,
and the three observatory notebooks are worth a combined 200 points.
Since your lowest 2 labs will be dropped
that means that there is a total of:
Miscellaneous
You are expected to read the lab manual before each lab meeting; the
labs will make much more sense if you spend a bit of time getting
acquainted with them beforehand. Arrive on time. Please turn
off cell phones, as they are a huge distraction; if they become a
problem your lab instructor may take further action.
Lab Philosophy
The labs are used as tools to aid in the understanding of the concepts explored
in the lecture. These concepts are expanded upon by applying them in a
practical manner in the classroom and at the campus observatory.
Requirements
You are expected to fulfill the following four general requirements:
If you stick to these guidelines, you should do fairly well in the class. If
you are lacking in any of these four areas, there are two extra credit labs
in the back of your lab manual that you may do, but ask before you do
them. If you have questions about an upcoming lab or about one that you have
completed, be sure to stop by during office hours.
Location:
The campus observatory is located on Williams Street south of Steward Street,
just to the south of the parking lots and in front of (west side of) the track.
It is set back from the street somewhat. Look for three dome-shaped buildings.
Requirements:
You are required to observe four objects per month to fulfill your outdoor
requirement for the ASTR 110G lab.
Due Dates:
Your observatory notebooks will be due in lab during the week of:
Hours:
Final observatory hours are still TBD and will be posted in class.
However, it is likely that the campus observatory will be open Monday
and Thursday 8:00-9:00. The first week of observatory will be
the first week in September, and the last week will be the last week
of November. The observatory will not be open during Thanksgiving
Break.
Weather:
Since we have optical telescopes at the campus observatory, we
cannot see through clouds or rain. Therefore, if you look up in
the sky and cannot see any stars, chances are the telescopes cannot
see any either. In such cases, the observatory will be closed for
the night. If you are unsure whether the observatory is open or
not, you can either check the ASTR 110G homepage through a link at
http://astronomy.nmsu.edu/astro/observatory or call the observatory
recording at 646-6278. Both of these will be updated about an hour
before observatory begins, and again if the observatory closes part
way through the night. If you find that either of these has not been
updated on time, please inform your lab instructor the next time you
see him/her.
The following gives some possibilities of objects for each month;
the objects actually used may vary from week to week. For star charts and
additional information about objects, see
September
October
November
Possible alternate objects:
100 x 11 labs = 1100 points
200 x 1 home observing project = 200 points
200 x 1 combined observatory notebook (September, October, & November) = 200 points
Total = 1500 points
Lab scores comprise 30% of your total grade in this course.
NOTE: you cannot make up any missed observations.
Come to the observatory early in the month to make sure you get your
observations. Unless the observatory is closed due to weather for more
than 6 nights in a given month, there will be NO makeup dates!!
http://astronomy.nmsu.edu/tharriso/skycharts.html.
Cygni) - Double star system in constellation Cygnus
Lyrae - Quadruple Star System in Constellation Lyra
Jon Holtzman
2007-08-24