Prof. Jay M. Pasachoff; Prof. Marek Demianski, Dr. Steven Souza Spring 2015

Astronomy 104 The Milky Way Galaxy and the Universe Beyond

1 W 2/4 Introduction; sense of scale Ch 1

2 T 2/10 Sense of scale; properties of light Ch 1

3 R 2/12 Light/energy Ch 2

4 T 2/17 Light and Telescopes Ch 3

2/17-2/18 Lab I: Distances in Astronomy

5 R 2/19 Observing the Stars and Planets Ch 4

6 T 2/24 The Milky Way Ch 15

2/24-2/25 Lab II: The Virtual Sky

7 R 2/26 The Interstellar Medium Ch 15

8 T 3/3 Mapping Interstellar Space & Spiral Structure Ch 15

9 R 3/5 Galaxies Ch 16

10 T 3/10 Cepheids, Hubble's Law, and the Scale of the Universe Ch 12,16

reading about Cepheids: from Miss Leavitt's Stars by George Johnson; book or ereserves

11 R 3/12 Gravitational Lensing Ch 16

12 T 3/17 First Hour Exam (through Chapter 16 material)

3/17-3/18 Lab III: Hubble's Law and the Expansion of the Universe

13 R 3/19 Prof. Demianski: Large-scale structure/the farthest galaxies Ch 16

spring break; 3/20: total eclipse of the sun in Svalbard; 4/4 US total eclipse of the moon

14 T 4/7 Black holes Ch 14

15 R 4/9 Supermassive black holes Ch 14

16 T 4/14 Quasars and active galactic nuclei Ch 17

4/14-4/15 Lab IV: Galaxies, Active Galaxies and Quasars

17 R 4/16 Quasars and active galactic nuclei Ch 17

18 T 4/21 The big bang and the early universe Ch 18

19 R 4/23 The formation of the elements; fundamental forces Ch 19

20 T 4/28 Second Hour Exam (largely on Ch 14/16/17 material) Ch 19

21 R 4/30 Prof. Demianski: The cosmic background radiation Ch 18

22 T 5/5 Dark matter and the inflationary Universe Ch 19

5/5-5/6 Lab V: Exploring Dark Matter

23 R 5/7 Planets outside our solar system Ch 9

24 T 5/12 Exoplanet searches and successes Ch 9

25 R 5/14 The search for life in the Universe Ch 20

May 16-19 Reading Period; Final Exam to be scheduled during May 20-25 Exam Period