Electronic Handouts
NOTE: Many of these handouts (those listed as "PDF" format ) require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to be viewed.
Any electronic handouts refered to in class are listed here.
| Date Posted | Format | Notes | |
| Course Syllabus | August 10 | An electronic version of the syllabus handed out on the first
day of class. |
|
| Ryden and Peterson [Our Textbook] Chapters 1 to 3 |
August 10 | Encrypted PDF | Because many of you
are purchasing the textbook online and will not have it until the 2nd
week of class, I am posting low resolution scans of Chapters
1 through 3 of the textbook in encrypted PDF format. You can download
it and use it until your textbook arrives, then please delete the
file. The password for this file will be provided in class. |
| “On the Masses of Nebulae and of Clusters of Nebulae” (Zwicky, F. 1937, Astrophysical Journal, 86, 217) | August 10 | This is a link to the page on Fritz Zwicky's
1937 article "On the
Masses of Nebulae and of Clusters of Nebulae" stored
at the NASA
Astrophysics Data System Astronomy Abstract Service. The entire
scanned article is available there in PDF format. |
|
| Useful Lecture Notes on the "Curve of Growth" | September 23 | Website | This webpage provides lecture notes at a slightly higher level than in our class, but with a discussion of the "curve of growth" which allows us to take a spectral line's shape and turn it into an estimate for the number density of absorbing atoms. |
| “Measurement of the diameter of alpha Orionis with the interferometer” (Michelson, A.A. and Pease, F.G. 1921, Astrophysical Journal, 53, 249) | August 10 | This is a link to the page on Michelson and Pease's 1921 article “Measurement of the diameter of alpha Orionis with the interferometer” stored at the NASA Astrophysics Data System Astronomy Abstract Service. The entire scanned article is available there in PDF format. |
|
| Magnitudes: Astronomers’ Method of Defining Brightness |
October 19 | This 6 page handout describes the magnitude system used by astronomers. | |
| “The Velocity-distance Relation for Isolated Extragalactic Nebulae” (Hubble, E. and Humason, M.L. 1934, PNAS, 5, 264) | November 18 | This is a link to the page on Hubble and Humason's 1934 summary
presented to the National Academy of Sciences. The article
must be accessed from the MSUM campus because the article is available
via a campus subscrtiption. The entire scanned article
is available there in PDF format. |
Exam Materials
After each exam, we will post both an answer key (annotated for any especially difficult problems) on the exam.
| Exam (Date) | Study Guide | Answer Key |
| Mid-Term #1 (Tuesday, October 6) |
Exam 1 Study Guide | Solution Key (updated 11:05 pm Oct. 7) |
| Mid-Term #2 (Tuesday, November 17) |
Exam 2 Study Guide | Solution Key |
| Final Exam (Monday., Dec. 14 at 9am) |
Final Exam Study Guide (To Be Posted by Dec. 7) |
Solution Key |