Instructor: Dr. William M. Peterson
Email: william-peterson@uiowa.edu
Office, Hours: 303 Van Allen Hall, Mon/Tues 2-3pm, Wed 10-11am
Full course materials can be found on the course ICON site.
The text for this course is Investigating Astronomy, by Slater & Freeman. The text has online materials that may be helpful.
Description:
This introductory course covers stellar astronomy, physical properties of stars, stellar evolution and structure, interstellar matter, galaxies and galactic evolution, dark matter, relativity, and cosmology. The 00B section includes lab work, which takes place in a separate, highly innovative classroom and utilizes an automated telescope at a remote observatory. Further analysis is carried out with a dedicated computer network. Students examine and investigate their own astronomical observations. The three lectures each week are given by the professor, while lab and tutorial work are directed by a TA. This course fulfills a GER:Natural Sciences. This course is closed to Physics and Astronomy majors.
Overall Course Schedule:
| Week of | Topic | Chapter(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 01/18/12 | Intro | |
| 01/23/12 | Basics | 1 |
| 01/30/12 | Light | 2 |
| 02/06/12 | History | 3 |
| 02/13/12 | Exam 1 | |
| 02/20/12 | Planetary Systems | 4, 8 |
| 02/27/12 | The Sun | 9 |
| 03/05/12 | Stars in General | 10 |
| 03/19/12 | Star Formation | 11 |
| 03/26/12 | Exam 2 | |
| 04/02/12 | Star Death | 12 |
| 04/09/12 | Our Galaxy | 13 |
| 04/16/12 | Other Galaxies, Clusters | 14 |
| 04/23/12 | Exam 3 | |
| 04/30/12 | Cosmology | 15 |