Astronomy Picture of the Day: Meteor between the Clouds
November 20, 2009
- Course
Gradebook (Last updated:
Thursday, November 19 )
Updated to include everything turned in through Friday, November 13 except for observing projects. A crude attempt at projecting your course grade has been included as well.
- Class News (Via Twitter)
Please wait while my tweets load
If you can't wait for more class news - you can go to the class Twitter feed here.
This course starts by introducing astronomy as a science. We start as the ancients did, by looking at the sky and trying to understand the motions of the stars and planets. We will then discuss how more modern astronomers have approached the problem by learning how to analyze light. Once we have our astronomical background firmly established, we will start studying the closest planet, the Earth. We will then move outward, comparing and contrasting the planets that make up the Solar System.
By the end of the semester, you should not only have a good understanding of the solar system and it's members, but should also have a broad enough knowledge in astronomy to understand how most modern astronomical discoveries are made, even if the details are beyond the level of this course.