last revised 4/29/07

ASTRONOMY 330
Spring 2007
Course Syllabus - revised

A Note About the Reading:
The reading indicated for each class meeting is to be done prior to that class.
The text contains much more material than can be covered during lectures;
nevertheless, unless explicitly told otherwise, you are responsible for all of the reading.

DATE

TOPIC

READING

Th. 2/1 Introduction Ch. 1
M 2/5 Special Session: Meet in Chapin Library
second floor of Stetson
Ch. 1,2
Th. 2/8 More History Ch. 2
M 2/12 Newton's Contribution
see also here for explanation of distances in astronomy, and parallax
Ch. 3
Th. 2/15 Matter and Light, I. Ch. 4
M 2/19 Matter and Light, II. Ch. 4
Th. 2/22 Lives of Stars Ch. 5
M 2/26 Defining Our Terms
Homework #2 due in class
Ch. 6
Th. 3/1 Special Relativity Ch. 7
M 3/5 More SR Ch. 7
Th. 3/8 FIRST MIDTERM EXAM  
M 3/12 General Relativity Ch. 8
Th. 3/15 Black Holes Ch. 9
  NO CLASS -- SPRING BREAK  
M 4/2 Discovery of the Universe Ch. 10 (up to p. 295); Shapley-Curtis Debate links under
"Discovering the Universe" on links page
Th. 4/5 More Discovery Ch. 10 (p. 295-end)
M 4/9 Modeling the Universe Ch. 11
Also see the following helpful notes on metrics and geometry,the relationship of observed properties and redshift, and the derivation of the Friedmann Equation (also on Links page).
Th 4/12 The Early Universe Ch. 12, through page 354
M 4/16 More About the Early Universe
Ch. 12, 354-end
Th. 4/19 Testing the Models
Homework #3 due in class
Ch. 13
M 4/23 A Message from the Big Bang Ch. 14
Th. 4/26 SECOND MIDTERM EXAM  
M 4/30 Dark Matter and Large-Scale Structure Ch. 15
Th. 5/3 Inflation Ch. 16
M 5/7 "The Elegant Universe" Ch. 16
Th. 5/10 Into the Future
Homework #1 due in class
Ch. 17

Back to Astronomy 330 home page.
Back to Astronomy Department home page.