All readings listed are from Freedman & Kaufmann. Additional readings will be suggested in class and placed on reserve in the W.E.B. Du Bois Library. The data column lists the first lecture meeting of the week. As you know, not all weeks begin with a Monday in the UMass schedule. Days of the week (MTuWThF) are shown in parenthesis. I'll add links from the week to additional material as they become available.
| Week | Date | Topic | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jan 29 | Introduction/coordinates & astronomical measurement/Motions & the Night Sky | Ch. 1, 2 | |
| 2 | Feb 05 | Discovery of the Solar System/Laws of Nature/Motion | Ch. 7, 4 | |
| 3 | Feb 12 | Newton's Theory of Gravity/Light | Ch. 4 | |
| 4 | Feb 21 (W) | Atoms and radiation | Ch. 5 | |
| 5 | Feb 26 | REVIEW:Motions & Physical Laws | Ch. 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 | |
| Exam 1 | Feb 28 (W) | IN CLASS QUIZ. Covers Weeks 1-4 | ||
| 5 | Mar 02 (F) | What is a star? | Ch. 18 | |
| 6 | Mar 05 | Properties of stars | Ch. 18, Ch. 19 | |
| 7 | Mar 12 | The Physics of Stars/Star formation | Ch. 19, 20 | |
| * | Mar 19 | SPRING BREAK | ||
| 8 | Mar 26 | Stellar Evolution | Ch. 21, 22 | |
| 9 | Apr 02 | White dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes | Ch. 23, 24 | |
| 10 | Apr 09 | Telescopes and optics | Ch. 6 | |
| 10 | Apr 11 (W) | REVIEW:Stars & Telescopes | Ch. 6, 18-24 | |
| Exam 2 | Apr 13 (F) | IN CLASS QUIZ. Covers Weeks 5-10 | ||
| 11 | Apr 17 (T) | The Milky Way Galaxy/Galaxies | Ch. 25, 26 | |
| 12 | Apr 23 | Distances to galaxies/Galaxy formation | Ch. 27 | |
| 13 | Apr 30 | Cosmology: models of the Universe | Ch. 28 | |
| 14 | May 07 | The big bang and its aftermath | Ch. 28, 29 | |
| * | May 14 | Cosmology summary & Course review | ||
| Final Exam | May ?? |
Last modified: Thu Jan 25 16:38:42 EST 2007