Astro 1H Syllabus



 
Topic     Reading Comments
 
The Sky Chap 1-3 Three good chapters on what you can see with your unaided eye (but we'll put off tides for a week or so).  Also check out Appendix B, which will help you find your way around the sky
History of Astronomy Chap 4 Believe it or not, this is a fun subject.  I'll expand on it in class.
Gravity Chap 4 EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!! This is the basis of 1/2 of astronomy. And here is where we do tides.
Atoms and Light Chap 5 (sec 1) and Chap 6 Again, EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!! This is the basis of the other 1/2 of astronomy
Telescopes Rest of Chap 5 Telescopes. Interesting, but not as important as other topics
                          
                  QUIZ  -- JANUARY 31
                              
Basic Properties of Stars Chap 8 Read the chapter carefully.  It contains ALOT of important stuff.
The Structure of Stars Chap 9 (sec 2-4)  Skip the star formation stuff for now. As for the rest, I'll include alot more information in class.
Stellar Evolution Chap 10 (sec 1-3) We'll do the section on binary stars after Chapter 11. Also, skip the stuff about star clusters. That will come after the next exam. Study the rest of the chapter.
Stellar Endpoint Chap 11 Really weird stuff. If we have time, we'll also do some relativity for fun.
Binary Star Evolution Chap 10, sec 4 Binary star evolution can be pretty strange, but don't worry if you get confused; it's not that important
Star Formation Chap 9, sec 1 and sec 5 We'll do this for the pretty pictures, not the science content
                      
             QUIZ -- FEBRUARY 28
                        
 The Interstellar Medium     Inexplicably, the book seems to skip this topic. I'll do it, but I'll keep it light.
Star Clusters Parts of Chap 10 and 12 Now we'll do star clusters and put them in context
The Milky Way Chap 12 You can skip the stuff about the center of the Galaxy, but the rest of the chapter is very good
Galaxies Chap 13 An important chapter
Active Galaxies  Chap 14 Skim the chapter.  Don't worry about any of it, except for quasars
Cosmology Chap 15 Mind boggling. We'll spend some time here.
           
       QUIZ -- APRIL 2
         
Solar System Overview Chap 16 (sec 2) If you can, try to skim ahead to Chapters 17 and 18
Formation of the Solar System Chap 16 This is a good chapter
Terrestrial Planetology Chap 17 Skip plate tectonics and the parts about planetary atmospheres
Planetary Atmospheres Chap 17 and 18 Now study on the sections that talk about atmopheres, including Earth, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Titan (the moon of Saturn)
Tides and Rings  Chap 17 and 18 Concentrate on the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn.  We'll also go back to Chapter 3 and the Earth-Moon system
Comets, Asteroids, 
Space Flight, and Dinosaurs
Chap 19 Chap 19 actually contains almost no useful information. But skim it anyway. I'll connect the topics in my lecture.
Life, the Universe, and Everything Chap 20 Now I'll try to tie everything together. Read for the fun of it.