ASTR 10, Descriptive Astronomy (V0076)
Spring Semester, 2004
Instructor: Dr. Korpela

Contact Info

• Dr. Korpela: korpela@ssl.berkeley.edu, 510-643-6538

Updated

• HOMEWORK #1 is due Jan 29.
• EXAM #1 is Mar 04. Those who need a makeup must contact Dr. Korpela by Feb 16 to arrange an EARLIER date.

Website:

If you haven't been to the website before now, an introduction to its important features can be found in the notes for the first lectures, in the Archive of Administrative Notes. As I said in class, those that can download materials from this site should do so, in order to save on photocopying (and the weight of what I carry!).

The Sky:

• Telescope Viewing: We'll be organizing a field trip to Chabot for telescope viewing, however, you can go to Chabot any Friday or Saturday night. Follow the Local Astronomy link below to investigate this and other options. Click for details of Chabot observatory. Look for Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and the Pleiades in the night sky! If you have binoculars, search Orion's belt for the Orion Nebula.
• Binoculars: I have been asked about buying binoculars for astronomy, and have created a Binoculars for Astronomy resource page.
• Remember to look up! Astronomy is, after all, the study of the stars etc! Think about the scale of distances, motions and times as you gaze at the sky. If you can see planets and/or the moon, try to picture where you are on the earth, and where the planet is in its orbit. The exercises we've done should help.
• Planets: This week Venus in the west after sunset. is the brightest object in the evening sky (apart from airplanes, sun, and moon). Jupiter and Saturn are in the east at sunset. Mars can be seen glowing red high in the south after sunset.
• Stars: Remember that almost everything that can be seen with the naked eye is part of our own Milky Way Galaxy! (The Andromeda Galaxy is an exception). Notice that it's hard to see the disk of our Galaxy with your naked eye, but we do in fact live way out on one side of that disk. Think about which stars are likely to be young, and which are likely to be old! Think about which are about to die, and how. Keep an eye on Betelgeuse! Think of all the pulsars and black holes you can't see with your naked eye! Remember that all of these objects that you can see with the naked eye are inside our own galaxy! (Exceptions are the Andromeda Galaxy (visible from dark locations) and the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (visible from the southern hemisphere).
• Resource: Go to Sky and Telescope's Observing page to learn about the changing sky - planets, variable stars and so on. variable stars, and more!

Details on Upcoming Dates:

The first Homework Assignment will be due in class January 29, 2004. If you don't yet have a text, much of the material required for Homework #1 is contained in the handouts, and the remainder can be found in the (different) online textbook at http://www.astronomynotes.com.

Upcoming exams:

• If you cannot make one of these dates, please arrange an alternate time
• The exams will be more like the quizzes than the homeworks, in that it will be multiple choice, true/false, and short answer. Rather than just read the textbook without particular focus, use the "What Was Important" guides to focus your studying. In addition, the homework solutions, in-class exercises, ConcepTest questions, and quiz questions highlight topics I find particularly important.

• Exam #1 will be March 04. Makeup exams for Exam #1 MUST be completed prior to the originally scheduled exam date. Please contact Dr. Korpela prior to Feb 16 if you need to reschedule.

Last Thursday Night's Lecture:

Last night's lecture notes may be found here (powerpoint) or here (html). .

Find out what the goals of last night's lecture were in the What Was Important notes. Some more details are found below.

Last night I handed out the solutions to the exercise from the previous week.

I also brought copies of the handouts from the previous two weeks.

We did a quick recap of the previous week's lecture discussing scale. You can find out more about it in the lecture notes from last week.

We discussed in detail the nature of science. Science is a process, not a collection of facts. We talked at length about how the scientific process works. We also discussed pseudoscience and about how to develop your bullshit detecting abilities.

We also started our discussions of the sky and how to find things in it. We presented a useful model of the sky, called the celestial sphere, and how it can be used to predict the motions of objects in the sky by considering your location on the earth.

We the went out side and looked at the sky. We located the north celestial pole and the celestial equator and discussed how stars would move over the course of a night. I pointed out a few planets and we located several constellations, Orion, Cassiopea, the Big Dipper, Taurus, and the Pleiades.

Miscellaneous:

You may have trouble parking some Thursdays because of the basketball games. Men's games create the most difficulty The schedule for CAL sports may be found here.

If you don't yet have the text, much of the material required for Homework #1 is contained in the handouts, and the remainder can be found in the (different) online textbook at http://www.astronomynotes.com.

If you found your way here but missed the first class, don't despair! You will be a little behind, but you can still catch up. And if you're not yet registered, I will sign your Add Form. It is not my intention to fail students who attend the classes and seriously work on all the homeworks and assignments

GENERAL COURSE INFORMATION

Course Syllabus

Policies

Click the Reload Button on each page for The Latest Updates

TEXT will be The Essential Cosmic Perspective, 2nd College Edition, by Bennett et al.
This should be available from Ned's Campus Textbook Exchange on Bancroft Avenue. You may find a better bargain on line at bn.com or amazon.com.

USEFUL COURSE STUFF

Homework Assignments

Handouts

Weekly "What Was Important"

In-Class Exercises

Archive of Administrative Notes

Sky and Telescope's Observing Page

Web Resources for Each Chapter

Local Astronomy

Vista Home Page

INTERESTING LINKS TO WHET YOUR INTEREST

In addition to the FUN STUFF section below:

Here's a neat online version of The Powers of 10 to remind you of the awesome vastness of space!

Good and Bad Astronomy in Movies Includes "Signs" and "Men In Black II" among others.

If you're interested in the search for planets around other stars, try going here.

The exciting Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence! For more information on the SETI projects, go to the SETI at UC Berkeley website .

Bad Astronomy in the Media (News, Movies, TV!)

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Universe Today (Current Space News from the Internet)

Astronomy Cafe (Website for the Astronomically Disadvantaged)

Take a Virtual Voyage Through the Milky Way

Exploratorium Home Page

Morrison Planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences

NASA Home Page